Tehran struggles with air pollution

More than two weeks of heavy pollution led Iranian officials to ban all outdoor sport and impose new traffic restrictions Wednesday as persistent cold weather exacerbated Tehran’s air quality problems.

In the worst concerted period of pollution for three years, primary schools and nurseries were closed and new car exclusion zones imposed in the capital.

Tehran’s air quality index averaged 159 on Wednesday, up two from the previous day, and more than three times the World Health Organisation’s advised maximum of between zero and 50.

At such levels people are advised not to leave home unless absolutely necessary.One area in north-eastern Tehran peaked at 238 on the pollution index and President Hassan Rouhani addressed the issue at a meeting of his cabinet as concern rises about health risks.

“The problem has been around for years and cannot be entirely tackled in a short time,” he was quoted by the official IRNA as saying.

IRNA reported that Wednesday was the 18th straight day of dangerously bad air while newspapers quoted officials casting blame on each other for the problem and failure to tackle it.

“Our preference was to close all schools but the education ministry insisted on keeping high schools open because of final term exams,” said secretary of Tehran’s emergency air pollution committee.

The cold weather is causing climate inversion — where emissions from car exhausts hang in the air rather than rising into the atmosphere above.