Nanyang rewarded for excellent air quality

Nanyang was awarded 4.4 million yuan ($663,000) by the Department of Environmental Protection of Henan Province for October, for meeting its monthly air pollution reduction targets – performing the best of all cities in the province.

As of Oct 31, 206 days in downtown Nanyang were recorded with excellent and fine air quality. The concentration of PM 10 decreased by 11 percent to 97 mcg per cubic meter, and that of PM2.5 also dropped by 10.5 percent to 51 mcg per cubic meter.

Of the total 18 cities in Henan, only Nanyang, Xinyang, Xuchang, Zhoukou, Jiyuan, Sanmenxia, Pingdingshan, Zhumadian and Luohe received the air-related ecological compensation. By contrast, Jiaozuo, Xinxiang, Anyang, Luoyang, Hebi, Zhengzhou, Kaifeng, Shangqiu and Puyang failed to meet the baseline and were imposed a fine.

The mechanism, which took effect since this year, holds city governments liable for any damage to the environment. Cities whose monthly average concentration of essential air pollutants meets the provincial standards will be rewarded and those that don't will be fined.

The evaluation is conducted across three indicators, including the days meeting the national standard of air quality and the concentration of PM10 and PM2.5. The average air quality of Henan is set as a baseline.

As for water, cities whose water quality declines will also be fined, with the three indicators being surface water, drinking water resources, the Henan-section of south-to-north water diversion project and risk prevention of water environment.