A new environmental police force has been introduced in Beijing on Saturday to help in the fight against the hazardous smog engulfing in the Chinese capital.

Xinhua reported that Beijing's acting mayor Cai Qi said that the initiative aims to improve supervision and accountability in the 16 affected districts.

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In his remarks, he said that the environmental police force will be given the mandate of monitoring activities that contribute to the massive smog in the region such as open-air barbecues and garbage incineration. "These acts of non-compliance with regulations are actually the result of lax supervision and weak law enforcement," Cai noted.

He added that plans to impose tougher measures to curb air pollution are also underway this year.

Beijing plans to phase out an estimated 300,000 old vehicles that are strong contributors to pollution. Furthermore, beginning Feb. 15, cleaner gas and diesel will be put to use.

Another major plan is the closure of the city's only coal-fired power plant and the reduction of coal consumption by less than 7 million tons for this year.

Cai said that Beijing is looking to cooperate with Hebei Province and Tianjin Municipality, which also face similar air pollution dilemma.

Beijing also plans to install air purifier on schools to ensure that learning continues.

CNN reported that a great deal of companies and car owners had been punished for going against the regulations, which had been put in place earlier.

Also, at least 2,682 officials had been fined with nearly $35 million by a Beijing court after they failed to implement plans to curb air pollution in the region.

Tagschina, Beijing, air pollution, Environment police