Paris: drastic measures
The French capital is suffering from the most serious spike in pollution levels in the past decade; the city limits vehicle access and imposes strict fines
Paris this week suffered the worst pollution spike of the last decade. With the high pressure system and an absence of wind, emissions from heating and car exhaust have made the air unbreathable and the Eiffel Tower, the Sacre Coeur in Montmartre or the skyscrapers of La Défense have almost disappeared behind a gray haze. The city's socialist mayoress, Anne Hidalgo, has taken the drastic and highly controversial step, criticised by the right, to cut vehicle access by half. It is not now simply the older cars or those that pollute most, but a system based on the odd and even endings of car registration plates. Yesterday was the turn of the odds, today, the evens.
This is the fourth time since 1997 that the French capital and its suburbs and 22 municipalities have resorted to this desperate measure. Offenders are fined €35 and their vehicles are immobilised. Exceptions are made for clean fuel, electric and hybrid vehicles, and taxis, ambulances, driving schools, refrigerated trucks and some distributors. Public transport and the local Vélib bicycle rentals are free, but much of the public system is unreliable, and even connections to the Charles de Gaulle airport do not work and one of the city's main rail stations, the Gare du Nord, was out of service yesterday.
Despite days of heavy traffic congestion on major roads in and around the city which have churned out high levels of pollutants from running engines, Hidalgo has been accused of kidnapping the city to favour her leftist supporters. Pollution kills 25,000 people a year in Paris, according to a study of five prestigious medical specialists who are behind the city's mayoress.