With air pollution increasingly compro-mising the quality of people's lives, the lack of action by local governments in response to the heavy smog at the weekend is being widely criticized.

This weekend many people celebrated Lantern Festival, which marks the end of Spring Festival, by setting off fireworks. According to Beijing's air pollution control rules, fireworks should be banned when the air is heavily polluted. However, the capital's government did nothing to prevent the fireworks.

Statistics from the Ministry of Environmental Protection show that airborne PM2.5 particles increased sharply in the four hours from 6 to 11 pm on Friday evening in the 161 cities monitored. PM 2.5 particles reached 150 micrograms per square meter in 57 cities, including Beijing, which meant severe air pollution.