China's Guangdong province bans barbeque stalls in 11 cities ahead of Asian Games

New Delhi, Oct. 26 (ANI): The Chinese province of Guangdong has decided to ban street barbeque stalls in 11 cities between Nov 1 and Dec 20, a period during which the city of Guangzhou will host the 16th Asian Games and the Asian Para Games.

Officials of the provincial environment protection department said they were banning street barbecue stalls because they use a high-polluting fuel, while interior decoration and paint jobs "release volatile organic compounds".

However, residents feel the government is going a little overboard in its attempt to clean Guangzhou's air before the twin sporting extravaganzas.

The China Daily quoted Wang Chunsheng, 28, a Guangzhou resident, as saying: "Barbeques don't cause major air pollution. The government is being a little too oversensitive."

Chen Guangrong, deputy director of the provincial environmental protection department, said the authorities would do all they can to ensure Guangzhou's air quality meets state requirements during the games period.

The two-week 2010 Asian Games opens on November 12, while the first-ever Asian Para Games, a parallel sport event for disabled athletes, will run in the city from December 12 to December 19, the China Daily reports.

Guangdong's environment protection department has also ordered some 15 polluting enterprises in Guangzhou and nearby cities such as Foshan, Zhongshan, Qingyuan, Jiangmen, Dongguan and Zhaoqing to either completely halt or reduce production by at least 50 percent starting November 1. (ANI)