Hanoi’s air quality has remained at “very unhealthy” levels since Thursday, placing the capital at the top of the world’s most air polluted cities list.

Hanoi will complete a system of 81 air quality monitoring stations by the end of this year, said Director of the municipal Department of Natural Resources and Environment Nguyen Trong Dong on February 5.

The government needs to seek help from the private sector to deal with the pollution problem, experts have urged.

Vietnam has been warned that serious air pollution will affect economic growth in the long term, and lead to foreign investment decline.

HCM City has faced severe air pollution over the past week with a high index of PM2.5.

The quality of air in HCMC is worsening due to emissions from the rising number of vehicles on the roads as the Lunar New Year holiday, or Tet, approaches, Thanh Nien newspaper reported.

Vietnam does not have enough capable air quality tracking systems to protect people from air pollution, an expert has said.

As air pollution has engulfed HCMC, the municipal Department of Transport is set to adopt multiple energy-efficient solutions in early 2020, including the launch of bike rental services, to reduce traffic congestion and air pollution.

Hanoi People's Committee Chairman Nguyen Duc Chung signed Directive 19 on December 25 asking related agencies to quickly deal with air pollution and let pupils stay home on bad air days. 

Hanoi mayor Nguyen Duc Chung has asked local bodies to bring back water trucks to wash the streets with a view to reducing air pollution nearly three years after their suspension, VnExpress reported.

Experts have accused coal-fired power plants of causing air pollution in Hanoi, noting that they are emitting fine dust during operations. But operators of such plants have rejected the claim, according to local media.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has been assigned to look for solutions for environmental problem especially air pollution.

The Hanoi government has taken many measures to deal with air pollution a long time ago.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has written to the Government Office and the relevant ministries and agencies, inviting them to a meeting to seek solutions to the air pollution in large cities, especially Hanoi and HCMC.

That is a question posed by experts in the context of the high air pollution concentration in Vietnam.

Residents in the capital city are showing their mounting concern about the poor quality of air that has hit the capital over the past few days.

As air pollution in the capital city of Hanoi has reached alarming levels over the past week, the Ministry of Health has issued scores of recommendations for residents to alleviate the effects of poor air quality on their health.

Transportation activities make up 99 percent of the total CO emissions of HCM City.

In the 2021-2030 period, Vietnam aims to prevent pollution and environmental degradation, and gradually improve environmental quality.

Air pollution continued to engulf Hanoi and some northern provinces on Friday morning, according to reports of independent air quality trackers.