As the Olympics countdown clock in Tiananmen Square ticked down to 73 days yesterday, the pollution reading in Beijing climbed to ``hazardous.'' Smog in the capital city -- stoked by dust blowing in from other provinces -- reached a level yesterday that Beijing's authorities bracketed in the second-worst of eight categories.

The International Olympic Committee has threatened to postpone events if athletes are at risk from pollution during the Aug. 8-24 Games. Beijing's environmental agency issued a health warning because of yesterday's haze, raising further doubts about the prospect of clean air at the Olympics.

``People who are vulnerable should avoid outdoor activities, and relevant industries should take note and avoid creating more particle matters,'' Beijing's environmental protection agency said in a statement yesterday. ``The relevant departments must also clean roads in a timely manner to avoid more pollution.''

For all Beijing's plans to limit traffic and stop building, inaction from neighboring provinces is hampering its efforts to curb pollution, officials said. Much of the gunk that smothered the city yesterday came from Inner Mongolia and sandstorms from other regions, the agency said in the statement. ``Beijing has neglected to take a regional approach in controlling pollution,'' Wen Bo of Pacific Environment, a U.S.- based environmental group, said in Beijing today. ``The city will have to implement stronger short-term measures.''

400 Over Target
Beijing's pollution reading at the Olympic zone yesterday reached 500 -- five times the city's benchmark. By its own scale, that represented ``heavily polluted'' air. The state environmental monitoring center recorded air quality for the city as ``hazardous,'' according to figures released by state news agency Xinhua. While today's reading was forecast at between 130 and 160, visibility in central Beijing remained restricted.

World record holder Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia won't race the marathon at the Olympics because he fears for his health. As many as 25 percent of Olympic athletes suffer from asthma, like Gebrselassie, according to team doctors. Beijing has spent 120 billion yuan ($17 billion) on measures to improve air quality. From July 20, the city will cut almost half the cars from the roads, limit production at factories and halt construction. Vice Mayor Ji Lin said in March: ``You can be assured of clean air in August.''

(By Wing-Gar Cheng, Bloomberg, 28/05/2008)