Fears are growing that a colder winter this year will provoke a spike in air contamination and thermal inversions in the Guadalajara metropolitan area.
So far this year, five “phase one” pollution alerts have kicked in – the same number as in 2015 – with the whole of December still remaining.
Jalisco Environment Secretary Magdalena Ruiz this week announced steps state and municipal agencies will be taking to tackle air contamination and limit its consequences over the ensuing months.
The Procuraduría Estatal de Protección Ambiental (the state branch of Mexico’s environmental watchdog agency) will increase inspections of 36 industries known to be the worst polluters in the metropolitan area.
Officers from the Secretaría de Movilidad (Transportation Department) will intensify their ongoing campaign to identify and remove from circulation vehicles that are visibly polluting, and sanction drivers who have failed to take their cars for annually mandated smog checks.
Police officers and inspectors from the eight metropolitan zone municipalities will ramp up their vigilance of cottage brick-making operations that illegally burn tires that can seriously pollute the atmosphere.
Private citizens are urged to refrain from lighting bonfires during the winter months.
Meanwhile, three agencies – Jalisco Civil Protection, the Family Development Agency (DIF) and the Jalisco Institute for Social Assistance (IJAS) –have announced the start of a joint operation to ensure the wellbeing of the state’s indigent population during the colder winter months. Brigades will be active offering support to vulnerable citizens with no fixed address, providing hot meals, as well as transportation to temporary shelters set up for the homeless.