Smog-Strangled Paris Lifts Ban On Half Of Traffic Due To Rains

The Paris government has taken back its decision to ban half the traffic in the beautiful City of Lights. Shuttered by a thick smog last week, it made the Paris government last week introduce traffic restrictions, according to france24.

"Due to the improving situation today and tomorrow, the alternative traffic (plan) will not be renewed Tuesday," announced Ecology Minister Segolene Royal, who took time to salute "the good citizenship of motorists who understood the necessity of this measure."

Half the capital's drivers had been banned from the streets on Monday by Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, who asked the authorities to introduce methods to reduce the pollution, according to rt.

Number plates that end in odd numbers were the vehicles that had been allowed to plough the streets. However, taxis, electric cars and ambulances were not affected. Public transport was planned to be free throughout Paris and its suburban towns.

The Airparif monitoring agency said that smog density was still near alert levels Monday, although rain forecast for Tuesday was expected to clear the air. Air quality experts had predicted that hazardous particulates could jump over the permitted maximum during the weekend. French pollution alerts were issued when the PM10 particles reached 80 micrograms per cubic meter. They could have become so dangerous that they could have led to asthma, allergies as well as related respiratory ailments.

Paris is on the top of the list for poor air quality, according to Plumelabs.com, a website that monitors 60 cities. With its Air quality index level of 136, Paris smog is higher than the "world's most notoriously smoggy cities" such as Beijing and Delhi.

 "We need long-term solutions including extra charges on heavy goods vehicles...," Fabrice Michel, a spokesman for the French Association of Transport Users (FNAUT), told france24 on Friday.

"Paris also needs a congestion charge inside the city," he added. "This would reduce circulation and raise revenue. But all our politicians seem to do is wait for the rain and when it doesn't come, they blame the weather for their failings."

However, the smog problem affected Paris even last year, when in March, the whole of France was under pollution alerts in various scales. The government had to introduce driving only on alternate days in Paris.