Battle for the Blue Sky in Nanchang

By special correspondent LIN XIAO

YANG Yuxin， a Nanchang local， starts a new day by strolling down the street， breathing in fresh air， and basking in the warmth of the sun. The Ganjiang River that runs through the city is dyed blue. The grand， time-honored Tengwang Pavilion is reflected in the river with a wonderful distinctness， while modern high-rises in Honggutan New District form a new skyline of the city.

Nanchang is the capital city of East Chinas Jiangxi Province. Residents here， like Yang， have long been plagued by air pollution. In May 2013， Nanchang initiated the campaign “Blue Sky Action，” targeting dust management at construction sites， transformation of coal-fired boilers， and automobile emission control. Today， as the haze， dust， and smoke are largely reduced， people can once again see a blue sky， clear river， and green land.

Reducing Dust Emission

In Nanchang， airborne dust was the main culprit for air pollution. The municipal government therefore determined to exert stricter management on construction sites as of April 2014. That year， it carried out 27 inspections at 270 construction sites. The campaign was led by the local environmental protection bureau， and jointly facilitated by the citys urban and rural development commission and urban management commission. To ensure the results be authentic， the inspected sites were chosen randomly by a computer. At the same time， the flying dust condition of all construction sites were assessed quarterly， the result of which will affect the performance evaluation of relevant government departments.

Before the campaign， all sites were assessed and did not meet the requirements of the dust density standard. But now， 71 percent of sites have reached the standard， and the maximum PM2.5 density dropped by half. As random inspections guarantee justice and fairness， the method was fully approved by the Ministry of Environmental Protection （MEP）， the MEP East China Supervision Center， and the Environmental Protection Department of Jiangxi Province. In 2015， Nanchang expanded the dust monitoring area to cover 280 major roads and streets around construction sites.

In 2017， inspectors from Nanchang Environmental Protection Bureau randomly chose building sites and roads for field monitoring. On August 24， for example， they monitored five building sites and five roads. At a site close to Hefangxi Road in Qingyunpu District， they installed equipment on the ground， and figures soon appeared on the screen： the PM2.5 density was 33 micrograms per cubic meter， and PM10 density 58 micrograms per cubic meter.

“The vehicle exhaust， weather， and dust all influence the results，” said Chen Quan， an official from the Nanchang Environmental Monitoring Station， “so the monitoring time will last half an hour， and the final result is the mean value of 15 phases.”

“In recent years， haze has become more serious， so we include the urban streets into the scale of dust monitoring，” Chen said. He added that the data will be sent to functional departments which will supervise and urge relevant companies and government departments to lessen the dust density and improve the environment.

Cutting Automobile Exhaust

Vehicle emissions remain another major source of air pollution. In Nanjingdong Road， at 10：20 pm of August 28， 2017， a car was asked to pull over for a routine check. The traffic police found it to be a“yellow-label” car， which is not allowed to enter the downtown area due to its high emission. The police then issued a ticket immediately.

In Nanchang， vehicles are classified and managed as per their environmental protection labels. Cars failing to meet emission standards are restricted from entering the city center.

“Car emissions mainly float a meter above the ground， just around a persons breathing zone. So， they pose a long-term， potential threat to human health，” said Li Weidong， director of the Nanchang Vehicle Emissions Management Center. Li added that the so-called yellow-label and no-label cars discharge even more pollutants during traffic jams in downtown area， having serious impact on the environment.

Founded in 2013， Nanchang Vehicle Emissions Management Center is the first of its kind in the province， created in response to the increasingly serious car exhaust. On June 1， 2013， a restricted zone was marked， where the yellow-label and no-label cars are not allowed from 7 am to 10 pm. Since August 1， after a one-month interim period， any violators will be fined. The regulation helped weed out the yellow-label cars， thus reducing pollution.

To further cut car exhaust， the restricted zone was expanded from 15.23 to 70.53 square kilometers in August 2014. And a comprehensive management platform was established， on which the environmental protection department and traffic management department could share information. For example， traffic cameras will automatically take photos of cars that violate the restriction regulation.

Furthermore， Nanchang took the lead to implement a harsher emission standard for motor vehicles. The city announced to adopt the China IV vehicle emission standard， starting in October 1， 2014， for the sale and registration of any light-duty gasolinepowered vehicles， bi-fuel vehicles， and mono-fuel gas vehicles.

A software to check the cars environmental protection-related information was also developed in Nanchang， which was launched in August 2015. When applies for a car plate in the city， the software will compare the vehicles type and model with the environmental protection catalogue. If it reaches the standard， a barcode will be automatically produced， which， if necessary， will help the traffic department obtain the cars emission information in a minute.

Removing Haze

Nanchang is one of the first 74 cities in China that applied the new standard of air quality. It started to monitor and assess the air quality as per the new standard in January 1， 2013.

The city has made relentless efforts to improve air quality. First， the municipal government required all departments and enterprises to take on the responsibility of pollution reduction. The thermal power plants and steel companies carried out desulphurization and denitrogenation transformation， and dust removal. Open yards， including those for industrial goods， materials， and slag disposals， built windbreaks， installed automatic sprinkling equipment， and prevented the dust from going airborne during the process of material piling， transferring， and loading. Five industries including organic chemical engineering， pharmaceutical industry， plastic productions， packaging， and printing completely fulfilled their yearly commitment in comprehensive control on volatile organic compounds. Construction sites are also required to build walls around the site， harden roads， sprinkle water on the ground， transport materials in a closed environment， clean trucks when entering or exiting the sites， and plant vegetation on bare ground. All these measures are 100 percent implemented at all building sites.

Restaurants have also been under close scrutiny in recent years， as the smoke and soot annoy residents as well as pollute the air. Restaurants are required to install high-efficient industrial-sized filtration systems in the kitchen. Those who failed or refused to meet the environmental protection standard will face penalties or even be clamped down.

The aforementioned measures indeed brought about dramatic changes to Nanchang. The air quality improved steadily， and the number of days with good air quality has been rising year by year. From 2013 to 2016， the days with good or excellent air quality were 222， 294， 315， and 318 respectively. Nanchang had good or excellent air quality on 77.5 percent of the days during the first four months of 2017， up 0.7 percentage points from the share in the same period of 2016.

Wan Xiaoyan who lives in Qingshanhu District likes to do morning exercises. After getting up， she habitually looks out of window. “Upon raising the curtain， the blue sky comes to my eyes，” she said， “what a beautiful way to start the day.”