The Chiang Mai land transport department and the municipality along with the traffic police have set up many checkpoints across the city to monitor vehicle exhaust fumes in a bid to lower the PM2.5 levels, which are creeping up, as expected.
Any vehicle found to be in violation of the accepted standard will receive a sticker on their vehicle and given 30 days to bring the vehicle to the land transport department to show that the problem has been fixed.
There will also be a campaign to promote all lorries to use covers over their entire cargo, to minimise the release of any particles.
The annual pollution is making itself known again, with today’s air quality measured by cmaqhi.org at around 76, according to authorities, though aqicn.org/city/chiang-mai shows levels to be as high as 171 in Doi Saket today and hovering over 100 across most of the ity.
Satellite images from VIIRS show that across the 17 northern provinces, 40 hot spots were identified.