Beijing: Beijing reported 86 "blue sky" days or days with fairly good air quality in the first four months of this year, in a sign that years of determined anti-pollution efforts by the Olympics host city were continuing to pay off, authorities said.

Compared to the same period of last year, the Chinese capital had 11 more "blue sky" days, Municipal Bureau of Environmental Protection said, assuring that the quality of air was getting better and better.

With less than 100 days to go for the Olympics, pollution indices, including concentrations of sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide in the air are coming down markedly, official Xinhua news agency said quoting the bureau. Beijing has targeted to reach 256 "blue sky" days this year.

Pledging to hold a "Green Olympics", Beijing has pumped in US $ 17.1 billion to improve the quality of air through a series of steps such as encouraging more people to use public transport and shutting down some highly polluting industrial units.

Beijing is also considering traffic controls during the Games. Vehicles with even and odd-numbered plates, except public transport and emergency vehicles, would be allowed to run on alternate days.

Appreciating the efforts, International Olympic Committee has said that much more has to be done to ensure better air quality for athletes taking part in the Games.

Beijings neighbouring municipality Tianjin, the Hebei, Shanxi and Shandong provinces and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region are also part of the anti-pollution drive.
Source : PTI