An alarming situation
The AQI index has repeatedly broken the "very bad" threshold, sometimes entering the top of the most polluted cities in the world; a series of monitoring stations recorded PM2.5 at levels many times higher than the WHO's recommendation.
Environmental experts emphasized that this is not an "one-night" problem but a consequence of uncontrolled urban development, lack of synchronous emission inventory and the widespread use of personal vehicles.
Associate Professor, Dr. Hoang Anh Le, Head of the Department of Environmental Management, Faculty of Environment, University of Natural Sciences (Vietnam National University, Hanoi) frankly pointed out the causes and warned against people's health.
According to him, AQI reflects air quality - the higher the index, the worse the quality. And clearly, the current situation is at an alarming level. Breathing is the most basic need. According to the "third law", people can fast for three weeks, fast for three days, but cannot breathe for more than three minutes. Therefore, air quality has a direct impact on everyone's health.
However, because breathing is free, many people unintentionally take the danger of air pollution lightly. Their impact is not only on health or the environment, but also spreads to the economy and society. Unable to attract tourists, the crop, production and a series of other development activities were affected... If money was allocated, the damage would certainly not be small.
The current pollution situation is really worrying, especially in Hanoi from October to March of the following year, when air quality often drops to the worst level of the year.
According to Associate Professor, Dr. Hoang Anh Le, during a day, there are times when we need to pay special attention, especially ensuring health measures when participating in traffic. That is early morning, from about 5am to 8am; afternoon from 5pm to about 7pm. In particular, there is a later time frame, according to air quality monitoring data, which is from after 9:00 p.m. to after midnight.
In reality, in the evening, many industrial production activities still do not stop, leading to continued increase in emissions.
In addition, although night traffic has decreased, many heavy-duty transport vehicles, cargo vehicles, and passenger vehicles are allowed to circulate. This is also a significant source of emissions, contributing to the increase in air pollution in Hanoi.
Full regulations but poor implementation
According to Associate Professor, Dr. Hoang Anh Le, from around the 9th lunar month, when the weather begins to change and the Northeast monsoon appears, this wind flow can bring pollutants from the Northern region, causing the pollution level in Hanoi to increase. Therefore, at this time, air quality often tends to deteriorate.
Regarding emissions, there are four main groups contributing to pollution, including traffic; industrial activities and craft villages; open burning such as burning straw, agricultural by-products, garbage, and leaves; along with construction activities causing a lot of dust. In addition to local sources, Hanoi is also affected by pollution spread from other localities.
Associate Professor, Dr. Hoang Anh Le said that the management capacity of State management agencies on the environment is currently not good. These units have not yet fully implemented the assigned tasks, tasks and responsibilities.
The document and regulations are complete, but the important thing is still the implementation. If everything is complete, but implementation is not good, the problem of pollution will continue to exist year after year.
Experience and models in the world show that quickly switching to electric vehicles for public vehicles, taxis, and creating low-emission zones in the city core are solutions that bring clear efficiency in reducing PM2.5 if implemented synchronously - from preferential policies, investment in charging infrastructure, to old vehicle control, emission inspection and construction management.
Currently, Hanoi has implemented a series of response measures such as increasing inspection of waste incineration treatment, tightening construction activities, requiring industrial parks to review emissions; in the medium and long term, the city has promoted the roadmap for low-emission zones, piloted the limitation of polluting vehicles in Ring Road 1, promoted the electrification of buses and taxis according to the target of 2030. However, many experts say that the speed and scale of current policies are still not commensurate with the urgency of the problem.
"The first important thing is to strengthen monitoring and supervision activities to have a complete picture of the level and source of pollution. It is necessary to soon apply AI tools and technologies in warnings and forecasts, this is a new step forward in modern environmental management.
Next is to step up monitoring, inspection and examination of emission sources. These activities have existed, but now they must be implemented more strictly and strongly. We must also pay special attention to vulnerable groups such as the elderly and children, who are most affected by poor air quality.
Strengthen inter-sectoral, inter-provincial and inter-regional management. Hanoi is located in a location vulnerable to external pollution flows, and that is a factor we cannot control ourselves. Therefore, improving the implementation capacity of management agencies, along with an effective inter-regional coordination mechanism, is something that needs to be done immediately" - Associate Professor Hoang Anh Le emphasized.
