One wonders why federal authorities are dragging their heels in handing over such a paltry sum at a time when reports suggest Guadalajara is now one of the most contaminated cities in the American hemisphere.
A 2013 report by the Clean Air Institute estimates that 3,000 deaths each year can be directly attributed to atmospheric pollution in the city. Staggeringly, Guadalajara registered the highest ozone levels of the 20 largest Latin American cities in 2013.The metro area’s monitoring network of ten stations was set up in 1993 and has hardly changed since then, Ruiz said this week in an interview with the daily Milenio. But improvements to the monitoring system alone won’t win the battle against dirty, deadly air, she admitted. Much more needs to be done to tackle the causes of contamination and execute effective strategies to reduce it – such as efficient car smog checks, car sharing programs, more school buses, higher quality fuels, improved public transport and the creation of significant green areas (the last one that opened in Guadalajara was the Parque Metropolitano 23 years ago).
Ruiz said progress is being made developing a program similar to the Proaire 2011-2020 plan that has already helped reduce pollution in Mexico City. Strategies should also include better information dissemination and public engagement and awareness, she noted.
Talking on the radio this week, Universidad de Guadalajara researcher Miguel Magaña highlighted the “lack of political will” to tackle air quality in Jalisco, and said society was also culpable, citing widespread public indifference to the issue and the inability of the public and private sectors to work together to get to grips with the worsening situation.