Nanyang rewarded for environmental improvement in March

Nanyang was rewarded 1.9 million yuan ($305,531) by the Department of Environmental Protection of Henan Province for excellent air quality in March.

This comes as a result of the new provincial environmental protection policy, which took effect in 2017. The policy 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.

As of April 11, Nanyang had 46 days recorded with excellent or fine air quality in its urban area. The average concentrations of PM2.5 and PM10 were 92 micrograms per cubic meter and 140 micrograms per cubic meter, respectively.

The significant improvement in air quality can be attributed to actions that Nanyang has taken this year in dust prevention and strengthened control over local industrial enterprises. The city has also built 40 air monitoring stations which are networked with the Department of Environmental Protection of Henan Province.

Next, Nanyang plans to step up efforts to improve water quality.