Heavy smog in large parts of China, over 150 flights cancelled

TIL Desk/World/Beijing-Heavy smog in large parts of China caused over 150 flights to be cancelled and highways to shut after the New Year holiday. A total of 164 arrivals and departures at the airport in Shijiazhuang, capital of north China’s Hebei Province, had been cancelled till early this morning. Four flights were forced to land at other airports and another 23 flights were delayed due to low visibility.

Dense fog temporarily closed several sections of six expressways in Beijing yesterday morning, the first working day after the New Year holiday, according to Beijing Traffic Management Bureau. Heavy smog shrouding Beijing and 71 cities for the past five days is set to get to worse in the next few days while the government dispatched 40,000 officials to inspect violations by factories flaunting warnings to halt operations.

The Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) said on January 2 its rectification measures have not yet been fully implemented, and some enterprises in cities severely affected by smog have performed poorly in emissions reduction evaluations. Ten teams, consisting of 40,000 personnel from multiple levels of government, have reportedly been mobilised to inspect over 30,000 enterprises and construction sites, as well as 60,000 vehicles across the country, the news agency reported.