China's Pollution Level Reaches Second-Most Alarming Level; Smog-Hit Residents Buy Fresh Air To Cope With Challenge

Chinese authorities on Sunday, December 11 upgraded its smog alert from yellow to orange after the level of air pollution worsened in several parts of the country, including in the capital Beijing, PTI reported. Orange is the second-most serious level of pollution.

It was said that medium-level smog will affect parts of Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Henan, etc. for 24 hours starting Sunday while some areas will see dense pollution with a visibility less than 500 meters, China's Xinhua news agency said, quoting the National Meteorological Centre (NMC).The Asian giant has a four-tier weather warning system with red being the most alarming. It is followed by orange, yellow and blue. With the activation of the orange warning, outdoor activities in schools have been canceled while construction projects stand suspended.

Smog has been a major concern in northern China, especially in the winter when cold weather conditions combine with the burning of coal to worsen the situation.In a five-year plan on improving the environmental conditions released earlier this month, the State Council ordered strict restrictions on coal consumption. Regions with worst air quality must see a drop in the coal consumption, according to the plan, the report added.

Meanwhile, people in China are paying over US $30 to get "pure, hand-bottled, pollution-free, oxygen-rich air from New Zealand", the Chinese media reported recently. The business of selling bottled fresh air is thriving since people who are struggling to cope with choking smog in northern China during the winter are buying them, an article in South China Morning Post cited the Beijing Youth Daily as reporting. The bottles of fresh air from countries like New Zealand and Canada even have breathing masks attached on them.

The capital of China's southern neighbor India, New Delhi, has also been hit by severe pollution with reports saying that it has beaten Beijing's precarious record. The local government of the Indian capital tried to introduce an odd-even policy in transportation to curb the problem of pollution but it hasn't been successful.