Beijing checks anti-smog measures amid public incredulity

Beijing's education authority notified schools on Saturday to make independent decisions on whether to suspend classes due to the orange-level smog alert.

The Beijing Meteorological Observatory on Saturday maintained an orange smog alert, second only to the highest level of red alert, for the third day.

Under the city's official emergency smog measures, classes can only be closed when a red smog alarm is hoisted.

The education commission's decision to defer the choice to schools is generally considered to be made under public pressure.

The city has been shrouded in dense haze since Wednesday. The wide-spread smog has also sprawled to nearly all of the north China region and to the northeast part of the country including Liaoning Province.

After the National Meteorological Center upgraded Tuesday's yellow alert to orange on Thursday, authorities in Beijing and other smog-affected provinces have put forth only a few light solutions to the problem, such as suggesting people to stay indoors and wear masks if going out.

Thirty-five companies have been reported to have halted production and 74 others reduced emissions by 30 percent in the national capital.

Gao Jian, a research fellow with the China Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, admitted that currently the authorities' anti-smog public directives and coordinated measures were not enough to cope with the severity of the regional air pollution.

Sources with the Beijing education commission said many schools had reported that students' parents have questioned the safety of sending kids out to school in heavy smog , as most schools do not have air purifiers.

The commission suggested schools keep in contacts with students' parents and listen to their appeals during the orange smog alert.

Although a cold spell was forecast to arrive Saturday evening to end the persistent haze, the public are expecting more.

Zhai Qing, vice minister of environmental protection, said in September that the anti-smog work challenges the government's cross-sectoral and regional coordination.

He said pollution control cannot be fully carried out as the coordination and interaction among government organs is still ineffective.

Yang Baodong, vice mayor of Baoding City, north China's Hebei province, which is adjacent to Beijing, said if effective coordinated measures to cut emissions were taken simultaneously on an alert of a wide-spread smog, the density of PM 2.5 reading could be reduced by 38 percent.