Rare smog spike hits Beijing as air quality turns very unhealthy

Air pollution reduced visibility in in Beijing, on Thursday. Pic/PTI

Beijing was shrouded in heavy smog on Thursday with AQI climbing to "very unhealthy" levels of 215, a rare spike in pollution in the Chinese capital after years of expensive cleaning up.

China's national observatory on Wednesday issued a yellow alert for heavy fog in some parts of the country, saying that thick fog is expected to shroud parts of Hebei, Beijing, Tianjin, Henan, Anhui, Jiangsu, Hubei, the Sichuan Basin and Chongqing on Thursday.

The smog with polluted air quality is rare these days in Beijing, which used to witness very heavy pollution before the government initiated a series of steps, including closure and relocation of heavy polluting industries in 2016, spending billions of dollars.

Officials say the city's switch to natural gas or electric public heating in winters from the coal-fired ones, spending over $1 billion, has helped reduce pollution levels.

Beijing's efforts to tackle heavy pollution were in the news in recent days in the backdrop of New Delhi witnessing a deepening pollution crisis. It sparked a debate over whether the Indian capital should follow Beijing's arduous and expensive journey to improve air quality.

215
AQI reading in Beijing on Thursday

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