Chiang Mai Enjoys Rain at Last !

A few days of substantial rainfall have eased the problem of fine dust in Chiang Mai, but health officials are still concerned about residents' health after 30,000 people reportedly suffered respiratory illnesses from March 1-17.

Local authorities are continuing their anti-outdoor-burning campaign, opening fountains and introducing twig-crusher machines to tackle the problem.

Following three to four days of rainfall, Chiang Mai's air-quality stations yesterday found PM10 fine-particle dust to be lower than the safety standard of 120 micrograms per cubic metre.

Earlier this month the province had been shrouded by fine dust for 11 consecutive days, especially on March 14, when the dust in the city centre peaked at a massive 238.3ตg/m3.

The poor air quality caused 30,000 people to suffer from respiratory illnesses, and the number of patients could reach 100,000 by month-end, said Public Health Office academic Molwipa Sirihorachai yesterday.

The number of asthma patients had doubled compared to the same period last year, she said.

Forest fires were blamed as a major cause of the problem. Royal Forestry Department academic Wichai Kitmee said that from February 26 to March 10 fires had ravaged 6,000 rai compared to the 9,000 rai damaged last year.

He said there would be another burning from late March into April to clear 180,000 rai for farming. The last time farmers burnt their land was in November-December to clear 55,000 rai, he said.

Meanwhile, Chiang Mai Administrative Organisation president Boonlert Buranuprakorn said the agency had spent Bt4 million on 32 twig-crusher machines for all districts to study the possibility of farmers using them instead of resorting to burning to clear their land.

Source: THE NATION ON SUNDAY