With Bangkok’s smog back up to “unhealthy” levels again, City Hall yesterday ordered a halt to all construction work in the capital for three days.
Today through Thursday, no projects, from high-rise developments to public train projects, can continue throughout the greater metropolitan area.
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration is also falling back on last year’s non-panacea: spraying water. Trucks will be deployed to spray water into the air along key Bangkok roads. The theory, according to Bangkok Gov. Aswin Kwanmuang, is that it will trap airborne dust.
No new or aggressive measures to combat the rise of pollution, including micro-particulate levels hazardous to human health, have fed frustrations with the perceived inaction.
The newly announced measures are do-overs of what was implemented last year. In January 2019, the BMA ordered construction of electric train projects to stop for seven days in a bid to ease the problem.
All but four days of the past month have registered at “unhealthy” levels of air pollution, according to tracking firm AirVisual.
Other measures promoted by officials have included working from home. More than 400 schools were forced to cancel classes last month due to the pollution’s potential health impact on children.
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Clear Bangkok’s air by working from home: health minister
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