Paris to restrict car usage due to rising air pollution in city
In order to cut air pollution in the city, Paris will restrict car usage on Wednesday. The step comes in the wake of rising air pollution linked to intense heat wave that strikes most of French regions, the city's police department announced on Tuesday.
Commenting on the development, Paris police prefecture said only electric vehicles and those with clean air stickers 1 and 2 are allowed to enter the French capital on June 26 from 5:30 a.m. local time to midnight.
The other vehicles, mostly older and diesel cars, will be prevented from circulating in Paris following the unusual heatwave.
Amid an expected high level of ozone pollution linked to rising temperatures, speed limits will also be cut by 20 kilometer per hour in Paris and Ile-de-France on Wednesday, while vehicles weighing over 3.5 tonnes will be asked to bypass the city centre and nearby surroundings completely.
In addition, the Paris police department has called on businesses that use polluting machinery to reduce operations and avoid using solvent-based products, such as acetone, varnishes, glues or paints.
Like major Western European countries where unprecedented high temperatures will appear in at least the next six days, France is set to witness unseasonable temperatures which could even exceed 38 degrees Celsius in parts of eastern and southern regions in the coming days.
Meanwhile, Meteo France predicts 34 degrees Celsius in the French capital for Wednesday. The temperature could even reach up to 39 degrees by Friday afternoon.
Meteo France has put 65 departments, including Ile-de-France (Paris and its suburb), under orange alert due to an intense heatwave and decided to maintain the alert system in these areas till Wednesday afternoon.
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