"To breathe death"/ The study reveals Veliaj: The air in Tirana is polluted

2024-01-31 11:37:00, Aktualitet CNA

"To breathe death"/ The study reveals Veliaj: The air in Tirana is

Erion Veliaj

Volunteers of the project "Green lungs for our cities" in Albania have discovered in their findings that Tirana and Elbasan are the most polluted cities in Albania.

According to them, the main source of air pollution is the construction sector, obsolete vehicles and heavy industry.

In the findings made these years in Tirana, Rodioni and his team list as problematic nitrogen dioxide (NO2) that is emitted from the burning of fuels and PM2.5, a solid particle with a diameter of 2.5 microns that is mainly generated by the construction sector and combustion of fuel, which are significantly above the allowed rates of the EU and WHO.

For the last three years, they have been continuously monitoring the air quality in Tirana, then extending to the cities of Elbasan, Durrës, and Shkodra through 1,200 different monitoring points.

Rodion Gjoka, environmental expert and member of the EU-funded project since its inception, says that all of Tirana is now polluted.

This study reveals, on the other hand, the Mayor Erion Veliaj, who every time she plants a tree declares that Tirana is cleaner.

"When we started working in the Municipality of Tirana, the Copernicus satellite, which measures air quality in all European cities (it is a free service of the EU), from a rating of 1-10, gave Tirana a rating of 2-3 . Today, now that I'm talking, I'm going live in the application, the rating for air quality in Tirana is 8, while on days without cars it goes 9-10. This rating is not 8 because we speak nicely, but it is because we made the right decisions. The center of Tirana, from a large roundabout, is today the largest square in Southeast Europe. Pazari i Ri, from a loading-unloading place in the middle of Tirana, is today another car-free space. Here, behind our backs, there was a small landfill, in the center of Tirana, the Walls of the Castle, but today it is another space turned not only into an economic pole with many businesses, but also cleaner. This means that we have it in our hands. The way we behave, the way we invest, the way we make decisions and if we reflect these decisions, as we say in these meetings, then we get the results I talked about and today Tirana is one of the cleanest cities in the region". declared Veliaj some time ago.

While Erion Veliaj boasts that Tirana is a clean city, unlike in previous years, this study shows it, classifying it in the list of the most polluted cities in Albania and at the top as the most polluted city in Albania./ CNA