On behalf of the local government, Vice Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee Nguyen The Hung on May 27 took delivery of 24 automatic air monitoring stations donated by South Korea's THT Company, local media reported.

Hung said that in recent years, Hanoi's air quality has worsened due to rapid urbanization. Emissions, dust from vehicles and construction sites, the rampant use of charcoal stoves, garbage and straw burning have caused numerous impacts on the city's environment quality.

Vice Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee Nguyen The Hung addresses the ceremony on May 27. Photo: Kinhtedothi.vn

Hung thanked THT Company for handing over 24 sensor air monitoring stations which are expected to make a positive contribution to Hanoi’s environmental protection.

The vice mayor added that Hanoi city had taken the lead in the country in building an automatic air monitoring system. With that, it has provided reliable data to people, sent warnings and suggested measures to protect local residents’ health.

The Department of Natural Resources and Environment will be in charge of operating South Korean air monitoring stations and integrating them to the existing monitoring network for a better tracking of air quality.

Air pollution in Vietnam’s two largest cities, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, has become a headache for local residents and authorities. In 2019, Hanoi often saw bad and very bad air quality indexes, even at a hazardous level (AQI of over 300) sometimes.

With 24 new automatic air monitoring stations put into operation, Hanoi has increased the total number of such stations in the city to 35.

Earlier, in December 2016, Hanoi received 10 such devices sponsored by Vingroup. In July 2019, it received data from the monitoring stations located at the French embassy.

At the end of 2019, Chairman of the municipal People's Committee Nguyen Duc Chung approved a project to install air monitoring stations in 30-50 locations across the city.

Information on air quality in Hanoi is made public daily or can be accessed on an official website.