Some 25,000 households in Bayangol, Chingeltei, and
Sukhbaatar districts have been told that burning raw coal in the coming winter
will be punishable with a fine ranging between MNT216,000 and MNT324,000. They
will be provided with an alternative fuel which is expected to be less polluting.
Not just those who burn coal at home, but also those contributing to air
pollution in other ways will be fined. 

Agreements have been made with 12 companies to supply
71,800 tons of the special fuel, to be sold through 96 shops in Bayangol, 54 in
Chingeltei, and 28 in Sukhbaatar. This will come in three kinds and can be
burnt in normal stoves. The price per ton
will range from MNT 70,000 to MNT 120,000. It is not yet clear how much will be
required and what the total cost will turn out to be. A family spent around
MNT250,000 to burn 5 tons of coal last winter.

People are not very hopeful about this latest plan
yielding much result. The government has spent more than MNT8.2 billion on
pollution curbing measures but there has been little visible progress.