Air Quality Control, Next Big Project of DENR

MANILA: Thanks to Pia Wurtzbach that the Philippines has registered itself in the list of recipients of the world's biggest beauty pageant, Miss Universe. And thanks to Metro Manila traffic as well that we are tagged in the list pertaining to countries with worst traffic conditions on earth. Now, the first news is sure a joyous one but it's the second one that has sent shock waves to the entire administration setup. The question is who should be held responsible for such a mess that will probably make Metro Manila uninhabitable in 4 years, well, there are multiple reasons contributing to the said condition -

• First one being the massive increase in auto sales that the country has witnessed in the past few years. Take for example the Hyundai Q1 sales or Ford March sales report
• Secondly, commuters not paying heed to traffic rules and regulations.

And this increased traffic condition is not only making the Metro Manila a difficult place to live in but it is also causing air quality standards to deplete day by day, causing serious health issues. Thus, taking issue in its hands now Department of Environment and Natural Resource has announced the installation of 17 local government units across Metro Manila. Wondering, how these units will help, well they will monitor real-time air quality over different National Capital Region and the same value will be compared to 'national air quality guidelines for health'.

There is one more update on Development of Environment and Natural Resources front, the newly elected President Rodrigo Duterte has recently offered Gina Lopez, the known anti-mining advocate, the position of environmental secretary. It feels like the man is on the mission to change the country for the best with the best set of army. And when talking about his great works, how can we forget the soon to be signed Anti-Distracted Driving Bill and his latest set of instructions wherein he asked public officials to restrict the use of luxury cars and instead go for mass-market cars.

In addition to DENR worthy steps, MMDA has also been seen working rigorously on improving traffic conditions in the Philippines. Some of the noticeable steps taken by this development authority include installation of 200 HD CCTV cameras that will instantly report any traffic violation within Metro Manila. Also, giving heed to the ongoing monsoon season, MMDA has issued a list of flood prone areas and has also scheduled maintenance work 54 pumping stations .

That's all we have on the government city improvement front, and we hope, this and the other new initiative installed by them work well and help create better-driving conditions for the future generations.

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