Hanoi to Install 20 Air-monitoring Stations with Funding from France Govt

Vietnam’s capital city of Hanoi is preparing to install an additional 20 air-monitoring stations which will use the money funded by the government of France, the state-run Tien Phong newspaper reported, citing the municipal officials. Half of the stations will be installed at major intersections and the remaining in the populated urban areas, according to Nguyen Trong Dong, director of the city’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment. Mr. Dong said the installations would assist agencies in issuing timely air-quality warnings to residents. The move comes after several reports in the mass media blamed city authorities for not issuing any warning to residents despite worsening air-quality for consecutive days. Air in Hanoi ranked five among six levels, at “very unhealthy” level for human beings in Real-time Air Quality Index (AQI) rated in the World Air Quality Index project. Mai Trong Thai from the municipal Department of Natural Resources and Environment said that the figure is scientifically groundless and inaccurate because it reflects air quality at a certain time within a certain place only. The U.S. Embassy in Hanoi said that the figure is totally accurate but it was measured within a small place. Hanoi has planned to install dozens of air-monitoring stations since 2004-2005 but it failed to fulfil the plan due to financial shortage, according to the newspaper. Currently, there are six air-monitoring stations in the city, but only two are operational with outdated machines, according to Mr. Dong. The Tien Phong newspaper said that a station may cost about VND3 billion ($134,000) for initial installation. In another move, the southern economic hub of Ho Chi Minh City needs to install 252 air- and water-monitoring stations costing VND495 billion by 2020, according to the newspaper. (Vietnamplus.vn Oct 17, Tien Phong Oct 17)