PUTRAJAYA: The enforcement of the first phase of Movement Control Order (MCO) on March 18 until yesterday has not only helped to break the chain of Covid-19, it has in fact reduced environmental pollution as well, according to Environment Minister Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man.
“This followed a reduction of activities such as vehicle exhaust emission, industrial stack emission and open burning,” he said.
He said a detailed analysis by the Department of Environment (DOE) on several main parameters namely nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulphur dioxide (SO2), carbon monoxide (CO) and fine particles of 2.5 microns (PM2.5) found their levels have fallen significantly.
Tuan Ibrahim said the monitoring was conducted at the air quality monitoring stations in Batu Muda and Cheras in Kuala Lumpur as well as Putrajaya.
“All three areas recorded marked drop of between 55 to 68% for NO2; 17 to 34% for SO2; six to 15% for CO; and six to 14% for PM2.5,” he said in a statement, here today.
Tuan Ibrahim said apart from that, DOE also expanded the analysis to air quality monitoring stations at several major cities such as Shah Alam, Ipoh, Penang, Kuantan, Seremban, Melaka, Johor Bahru, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu for the same period.
“The findings also showed significant fall in each parameter with NO2 reduced between 11 to 62%, SO2 between five to 22%, CO between two to 25% and PM2.5 between two to 23%,” he said.
The latest hourly Air Pollutant Index (API) is available on DOE website at http://apims.doe.gov.my/v2/ or by downloading the official smart phone application, MyIPU via Android Google Play and at Apple App Store.
Tuan Ibrahim also advised the people not to carry out opening burning to reduce the risk of fires in the hot and dry weather now.
Members of the public can report cases of open burning to the Fire and Rescue Department at 999 or DOE’s toll free line at 1-800-88-2727. – Bernama
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