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GWR
07-11-07, 09:42 PM
See also previous post:
http://www.chiangmai-mail.com/current/news.shtml#hd2

Chiang Mai’s air pollution fixable by 2011

The city’s Natural Resources and Environmental department has come up with a plan to solve the air pollution problem which became a crisis earlier this year costing the city and province millions in lost revenue.

The four year plan that can be instituted as early as next year will take four years to resolve if the nation’s Cabinet approves the plan.

A long list of local and provincial officials gathered to discuss and exchange ideas during their summit named “The Committees of Chiang Mai to solve problems of air pollution and wild fires.” They came up with a plan to be called “Operations for Air Pollution and Wildfires.”

Mr. Puchong Insompan, an officer for the Chiang Mai Natural Resources and Environmental department said that the causes of pollution and wildfires have been determined and now a long term plan must be put into place in order to avoid another crisis.

The system of procedures was designed by Mr. Pairot Saengpoowong, Deputy Governor of Chiang Mai and chairman of the plan. The committees involved consisted of locals officials from the Provincial Administrative Office, Protection Against Disasters and Resilience of the System, the Provincial Police, the Traffic Department, Industrial Offices, the Public Health Office, the Agricultural and Cooperative Organization, Highway Districts 1-4 of the Department of Highways, Chiang Mai University, Rajamankla University of Technology in Lanna, Regional Environmental Office 1, the Land Development Station, the Provincial Administrative Organization, the Chiang Mai Municipality, the Sub-district Municipality, all Sub-district Administrative Organizations, and the public sector.

The project, if approved by the Cabinet in Bangkok, involves the following procedures which the committee says will eliminate air pollution and wild fires in Chiang Mai - support for learning and creating a cooperative network link, the integration of operations, follow up, control and evaluation. Control and reduce the quantity of dust in the city, control open air burning of garbage in agricultural areas and in the city, increase fire fighting efficiency to put out wildfires, and educate residents about the causes and effects air pollution.

The study has been submitted to Vice Prime Minister Mr. Paiboon Wattanasiritham who will submit it to the Cabinet for consideration and possible approval. Thai News

http://www.chiangmai-mail.com/current/news.shtml#hd2

GWR
15-01-08, 11:39 PM
Chiang Mai Governor issues public order prohibiting burning
Rubbish incineration and deforestation also prohibited

Staff reporters

As a result of increasing public concern about pollution in the city, its surrounding areas, and the province itself, the Governor of Chiang Mai, Viboon Sanguanphongs, has issued a public order prohibiting burning of all kinds in open areas. Rubbish incineration and the cutting down of trees are also prohibited. The order is highly specific, and is being sent out to all local administration organisations, and also to government agencies in the province.

Prohibited activities include waste incineration, the burning of twigs, leaves, agricultural residue and the burning of areas of forest. Officers are being sent out to instruct the public in alternative ways of eradicating or recycling waste, as recommended by the governor. The province has also designated certain areas as forest fire protection zones. It is hoped that officers will be able to persuade local people to abandon their traditional burning practices and replace them with new methods of waste management in order to produce fertilizer. Any breaches of the new public order will be severely dealt with under the law.

Pollution is caused by incomplete combustion processes forming carbon particles, combined with dust from roads and fields. During the dry and hot seasons, prevailing weather conditions favour the formation of early morning smog and air pollution, as an “inversion layer” of colder air traps warm air below it, preventing it from rising and dissipating polluting particles.

Recently, the Meteorology Department reported that the lessening of a depression over Thailand had caused increases in daytime temperatures in the upper regions of the country, but that the weather was still cold, with cloudy conditions, exactly the conditions which encourage the formation of an inversion layer and the resultant pollution. Airborne pollution is able to travel great distances at altitude as a result of prevailing winds; an example of this being the huge decrease in already unsatisfactory air quality caused by the massive forest fire on the Burmese border during last year’s hot season.


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