Our Reader asked us to draw attention to the issue. In an email to the editorial office, they wrote:
What is happening in our towns and villages now leaves people breathless and dizzy, which is why I wanted to draw particular attention to an article explaining how to burn coal cleanly: https://czysteogrzewanie.pl/jak-palic-w-piecu/jak-palic-czysto-weglem/.
They added: “This is a current issue and one worth publicizing, because we can improve the air quality in our area in a very simple way.”
We have written about the matter many times, including in the article Reader on the smoke pollution in Bolesławiec: ‘A courtyard like Beijing or Kraków.’ Is there a problem or not? from November last year. At that time, a Reader, a resident of Staszica Street, also wrote to us:
On Staszica, on the other side of my street, there are many single-family houses and small tenement buildings. Of course, there are also blocks connected to the district heating system, but from those houses, where perhaps 30% of the estate’s residents live, so much smoke from coal and wood pours out that the courtyard looks like Beijing or Kraków, with clouds of smoke drifting around... When I sit in my apartment, everything is fine; when I open the window, I can smell smoke and sulfur. [...]
It is significant that 45,000 people die every year in Poland because of polluted air. Bolesławiec accounts for 0.106% of Poland’s population. Thus, it can be assumed that 48 people die here each year. That amounts to almost one person a week.
It is worth adding that this year the Marshal’s Office of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship may decide on an possible ban on burning coal and wood. Such a ban will be in force in Kraków from 1 January 2019. What do you think about all this? We invite you to join the discussion.