Ministry criticizes N China emergency smog response

China's Ministry of Environmental Protection on Monday criticized eight cities in the northern Hebei Province for inadequate emergency measures against air pollution.

In a report published days after a spell of heavy smog in Beijing and neighboring cities, the ministry said it sent six inspection teams to Beijing, Tianjin, Shijiazhuang, Langfang, Baoding, Xingtai, Hengshui and Handan on Oct. 9 to check their emergency mechanism in case of smog.

All eight cities have featured on a list of the 10 cities with the poorest air quality in China this month.

The ministry's report said that although Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei had in general implemented emergency responses to the smog, all eight cities failed to come up with feasible response mechanisms and stick to pre-set plans in many cases. Inter-departmental coordination was also lacking.

For example, heavy-polluting vehicles should not have been allowed to enter downtown areas within Shijiangzhuang's Third Ring Road in case of smog, under the city's emergency plan. But only 30 percent of these vehicles were actually stopped, the report said.

It did not specify any inadequacy in Beijing and Tianjin.

Last week's smog over Beijing was only dispersed by cold wind on Saturday evening, when an orange alert for heavy air pollution was withdrawn.