Measures to Tackle Tehran Air Pollution

Following heavy pollution in Tehran at the close of last week (Nov. 3), authorities formed an emergency committee on Friday evening.

Despite expectations, the committee did not vote on school closure but sport time at all school levels was cancelled on Saturday.

The daily sale of traffic permit for entering restricted zones in the capital was also banned until further notice, Mehr News Agency reported.

Gravel mining was also halted and the operations of pollutant industries were strictly limited.

"The emergency committee will update decisions, if the air quality worsens," Mohammad Rastegari, deputy for environmental monitoring at the Department of Environment, said.

Tehran's Air Quality Index (AQI) reached 151 on Friday, three times the acceptable threshold of 50.

The pollution was reportedly caused by dust particles blowing toward the capital from southwestern regions.

On Saturday morning, AQI improved to 131 but was still unhealthy for sensitive groups.

Based on AQI, conditions are described as Good (0-50), Moderate (51-100), Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups (101-150), Unhealthy (151-200), Very Unhealthy (201-300) and Hazardous (301-500).

Besides Tehran, various parts of Iran experienced poor air quality this week, originating from different sources, including vehicular pollution and dust particles.

While metropolises like Isfahan, Mashhad and Tabriz were tackling manmade pollution intensified by weather conditions, southwestern provinces suffered choking dust storms coming from neighboring countries such as Iraq.

Kermanshah and Khuzestan provinces experienced clouds of dust and extensive levels of PM10 leading to school closure in several counties.    

In the city of Kermanshah, PM10 concentration exceeded 390 µg/m3 compelling the authorities to announce a public alert on Tuesday.