Doubts rising over effectiveness of gov't anti-dust measures

Environment Minister Cho Myung-rae speaks during an emergency meeting with heads of 10 major cities and provinces held at government complex building in Sejong City, Tuesday. / Yonhap

By Kim Jae-heun

The government's countermeasures to fight the fine dust issue here are being questioned, as the nation's air quality has been getting worse over the last few days despite the measures being taken for five consecutive days.

Although the government has restricted cars at parking lots of public organizations, banned old diesel vehicles from entering Seoul and reduced the operation time of state-run companies' factories generating high levels of emissions, people have been suffering from choking air and have had to avoid outdoor activities.

The level of Seoul's ultrafine particles, those smaller than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, was 147 micrograms per cubic meter on average Tuesday morning, almost double the standard for “very bad” which is above 75 micrograms.

Afternoon dust levels were even higher.

Since 2015 when the government began measuring ultrafine dust levels, the previous record in Seoul was 129 micrograms on Jan. 14 this year, followed by 117 micrograms on March 4.

Environment Minister Cho Myung-rae held an emergency meeting with heads of 10 major cities and provinces for two consecutive days, discussing ways to combat the worsening environmental conditions. Another meeting with vice ministers of relevant ministries was also held in Seoul to discuss the issue.

Despite the meetings and fine dust reduction measures, however, no clear signs of improvement have been seen.

Cho urged the whole nation to participate in fighting fine dust, which the government plans to designate as a national disaster.

“The bill to designate fine dust as a disaster has been proposed in the National Assembly. Once it is passed, we can have more strict regulations to control air pollution,” Cho told reporters at the ministry office in Sejong.

He also called for voluntary participation in anti-dust moves, such as citizens refraining from using cars and the private sector reducing operating times for factories.