Air and noise pollution in HCMC is worsening with the latest examination results showing 40.5% of dust concentration and 91.5% of noise samples in ten areas in the city have exceeded the permissible levels during the third quarter.

The examination, conducted by the HCMC Environmental Protection Agency at 15 areas in the city shows that the pollution is worst at An Suong Intersection and Go Vap District, especially An Suong Intersection with 55 out of 60 air samples and 555 out of 600 noise samples failing the standards.

Areas that have dust concentration in the second quarter this year increasing against the third quarter last year include An Suong, Huynh Tan Phat-Nguyen Van Linh Intersection, Go Vap, Binh Chanh, Thu Duc districts and District 2, the agency said, but it showed no specific figures on the increase of pollution.

The high number of 6.4 million motorbikes and nearly 586,000 autos, not counting vehicles of people from other localities who are working in HCMC, has increased the amount of exhaust fumes in the air.

In addition, many old vehicles which have been expired are still allowed on the street and cause serious impacts on the air quality and human health in the city as they discharge harmful gases such as carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide, not to mention the noise and dust.

The second reason for the air pollution in the city, as explained by the agency, is from urban activities including the development of new construction works, demolition of old ones, as well as transport of building materials and machinery for building activities.

Industrial activities carried out at manufacturing and processing projects in close proximity with residential areas is the third reason for the air pollution.

The city’s environmental agency also put forward several solutions to reduce air pollution in the city in the next five years, including tightening management on the sources of air pollution, developing urban metro lines for mass transit, expanding axis roads, intersections, bridges, and tunnels to better serve the traveling demand of city residents.

Other solutions also put on the table for discussion are using eco-friendly fuels to replace fossil fuels, inspecting the exhaust fumes discharged into the air by motorbikes, enhancing the management on building activities, and strictly dealing with violations on environment protection during the building process.
Source: vietnamnet