Final push to clear smog-choked skies before Olympics

BEIJING started its most drastic pollution-control plan yesterday, restricting car use and limiting factory emissions in a last push to clear smog-choked skies for the August Olympics.

Under the two-month plan, half of Beijing’s 3.3 million cars will be removed from streets on alternate days, depending on whether the licence plate has an odd or even number.

Skies were relatively clear yesterday and traffic was light. But the real test will come when the work week begins today.

To further ease traffic, employers have been asked to stagger work schedules and public institutions will open an hour later than normal.

Two new subway lines and an airport rail link should also bring relief to clogged roads. All three lines opened on Saturday — a month behind schedule.

Besides the traffic plan, chemical plants, power stations and foundries were ordered to cut emissions by 30% from yesterday. Construction in the capital was to stop entirely.

While the government has said it hopes to reduce vehicle emissions, one of the city’s chief sources of pollution, it is unclear how the effectiveness of the plan will be gauged. The government has not made public a specific target for emissions levels or said how it will measure air quality.

Despite impressive venues and $40bn (€25bn) spent on improving infrastructure, keeping the city’s air clean for athletes in the August 8-24th Games has been China’s greatest challenge.

Many competitors are choosing to train away from Beijing and International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge has said outdoor endurance events lasting more than an hour will be postponed if air quality is poor.

The world’s greatest distance runner, Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia, has decided not to run the marathon because the city’s pollution irritates his breathing.

Already, 300,000 heavily polluting vehicles — aging industrial trucks, many of which operate only at night — were banned on July 1.

And on July 25, 266km of special Olympic traffic lanes will begin operating.

Experts say the pollution-curbing experiment could still go wrong because unpredictable winds could blow pollution into Beijing, despite factory shutdowns in surrounding provinces.

Or it could go the other way, with August generally being the month with little wind, potentially allowing pollution to build up.