Jonathan Watts reports in the Guardian, from Beijing:
Beijing’s Olympic organisers are planning a new set of emergency measures to reduce pollution after the draconian steps introduced a week ago failed to halt a grimy haze from smothering the host city.
The air quality has failed to reach national standards for four of the seven days since the city took more than a million cars off the roads and shut down hundreds of factories.
With less than two weeks until the opening ceremony, the organisers are preparing more drastic step to ensure that the “Greyjing” tag does not undermine its promise of a “Green Olympics” and force the postponement of endurance events like the marathon, triathlon and 10km open-water swim.
According to the China Daily, all construction sites and more factories in and around Beijing may be temporarily closed if the air quality deteriorates during the games.
