CityNews – Authorities, led by Chiang Mai Mayor, Tassanai Buranupakron, have started a campaign to crack down on cars and vehicles that expell black and toxic fumes from their exhausts in a bid to reduce the air pollution of Chiang Mai.
Many people get health problems from the increasing smog problem that Chiang Mai encounters every February to April during the burning season. What adds to this pollution is car fumes, with more cars on Chiang Mai’s roads, the mayor wants to help reduce pollutants expelled by unhealthy engines by setting up checkpoints checking for toxic exhaust fumes.
Tassanai said that Chiang Mai’s current AQI (Air Quality Index) is averaging around 120 micrograms per cubic metre.
He accepts that he cannot ban cars or vehicles in the city as they are a crucial part of life here, being used for travel, industry and commerce, and there is not enough systems in place to help deal with a ban if there was one.
His approach was to help reduce the number of vehicles polluting the roads with black smoke.
The first day saw police ordering people to fix their engines and reduce the amount of toxic smoke that comes from the exhaust. No arrests were made.
Police will, over the next few weeks, be strictly checking cars and will begin to issue fines to those who have failed to fix thier engines.
Tassanai hopes that this campaign will be on step towards helping reduce the AQI levels in Chiang Mai.