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April 01, 2005
Pollution and the beach
My head hurt and spinned as I made my way back home at rush hour. It couldn't be the beer, I thought, for I had downed only one. Perhaps it was the pollution, the thick black smoke that spewed out of the back of the many buses that travel along that strip of Carrera 11, transporting workers from downtown Bogota to their homes somewhere in the north. Thank God I quit smoking a year ago. With Bogota's air, who needs a After Mexico City, Bogota is the most polluted capital in Latin America, mostly because Colombia's emmission rules are lax, so old buses still travel the streets, leaving behind a lingering trace of smog. A 2000 survey of 1,200 Bogotanos found that 82% experienced runny nose, 72% suffered from dry throat and 68% had headaches because of pollution.
The city has taken some steps to minimize the effects of pollution on its 8 million residents. Every other weekday during morning and evening rush hour, traffic is restricted to cars whose license plates end in odd numbers (when odd-numbered license plates are let out, people who drive cars with even-numbered plates have to stay home, and vice versa). Bogota has also increased the gasoline tax, closed 75 miles of roadway for seven hours on Sunday to turn them into a giant bike path, and instituted a car-free day once a year. The idea was adopted by Cali and Valledupar, two other Colombian cities also trying to reduce their levels of pollution.
As you can see, my lungs need a break. I'm headed to Cartagena, folks, to spend four days drinking cervezas and lounging at the beach. Mike is on his way here and will join me for the coming week. I'm at the airport, waiting for him. He's coming from New York and we leave at 6 p.m. for our mini-vacation.
I filed my first story today, about the success Bogota has had in the past 10 years in bringing down its murder rate. It will run in the Christian Science Monitor sometime soon, I hope. I'll post the link here once it's out.
Posted by Fernanda Santos at April 1, 2005 12:19 PM