Haze pollution and burning bans addressed in Chiang Rai

The Nation 24 January 2018 | Natthawat Laping

Chiang Rai province hopes to implement an outdoor burning ban from February 17 to April 17 and to organise talks with neighbouring Laos and Myanmar to address the problem of cross-border haze pollution caused by the illegal burning of forests and fields.

During the period, besides the strict law enforcement, the authorities want to allocate a budget to have residents in villages at risk of forest fires – in Mae Fa Luang, Mae Suay, Wiang Pa Pao, Phaya Meng Rai and Thoeng districts – help as firebreak-construction volunteers.

The plan was announced by the chairman of the National Legislative Assembly’s Standing Committee on Natural Resources and Environment, General Nipat Thonglek, during a seminar on Tuesday.

The standing committee and related agencies in the northern province held the seminar at Rajamangala University of Technology Lanna’s campus in Phan district.

Nipat praised the work of all parties in tackling haze, which had led to a dramatic drop in the number of hotspots in Chiang Rai from 900 during the 60-day outdoor burning ban in 2016 to only 20 in the same period in 2017.

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