People, Environment
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Alborz Smog Worsens

Alborz Smog Worsens
Alborz Smog Worsens

The air quality in Alborz Province has been gradually deteriorating and it is expected to worsen by the end of the current Iranian year that ends in March.

“Smog has gotten worse in the past few days. There are a number of factors at play,” Hussein Mohammadi, head of the provincial office of the Department of Environment was quoted as saying by Fars News Agency.

He complained about the same two factors that have hammered Tehran’s air quality:  temperature inversion and the large number of clunkers plying the streets of the province 30 km west of the capital.

Experts say Alborz’s air quality will worsen starting Friday, because the atmospheric conditions will intensify the concentration of pollutants in the air, a problem that is expected to occur in Tehran and Qazvin as well.

In response to what must be done, he said it is partly down to people to help ameliorate the conditions by avoiding unnecessary commute and using public transport instead of private vehicles.

The official said his office has identified and stopped industrial activities with above-standard emissions, and called on the public to do their fair share in helping reduce pollution that has taken dangerous proportions over the past several years killing a shocking number of people in the affected areas.

Provincial officials say 18% of the entire country’s traffic passes through Alborz as it connects 14 provinces, mostly in the northern regions. “The volume of traffic that goes through Alborz exacerbates the problem,” Mohammadi said.

A recent proposal made by local officials and approved by the DOE to adopt a two-day weekend in a bid to curb air pollution was rejected by the High Council of Administration and Supervision.

In addition to reducing pollution, the proposal was expected to help ease traffic in Alborz, which usually experiences chaotic congestion. Large numbers of residents of the province travel to Tehran everyday for work clogging the three major highways linking the two morning and noon.

Financialtribune.com