Urban Managers Struggle to Combat Tehran Air Pollution

Over the past seven days, Tehran residents have woken up to see their city blanketed in thick smog. 
On Tuesday, Tehran Mayor Pirouz Hanachi laid bare a fact that most were well aware off: Tehran’s only way out of the current crisis is to hope for the helping hand of Nature. 
“If wind were to blow our way, the situation would improve,” he said.
The levels of toxic pollutants in Tehran’s air breached critical levels on Nov. 6 and so far Tehran Municipality and the government have failed to implement any measure to address the crisis effectively.
Hanachi referred to measures implemented in Tehran for addressing the crisis. The urban manager’s repertoire of crisis management measures has been limited to closing primary schools for a single day, increasing the traffic toll in central Tehran and cutting public transportation fares by half.
School closure would help prevent children’s exposure to toxic pollutants, but other measures have failed to deliver any results. Tehran’s streets remain outrageously clogged and the density of pollutants is moving only in one direction: up.