ULAN BATOR, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Mongolian government is planning to send vulnerable people in Ulan Bator to health centers and camps during the peak season of air pollution, the government's press office said Wednesday.
"Children under the age of five and their mothers, and pregnant women belonging to low-income households in highly polluted districts of Ulan Bator, can spend five days at 29 selected health resorts and camps near the city free of charge during the peak season of air pollution," the press office said in a statement.
The plan is scheduled to be implemented from Dec. 25 to March 25.
According to a preliminary study by the government, around 35,000 mothers with 65,000 children under the age of five and about 10,600 pregnant women will benefit from the plan, a preventive measure to protect public health from air pollution.
Mongolia will spend at least five billion Mongolian tugriks (1.8 million U.S. dollars) to implement the plan, according to the government's press office.
Ulan Bator, home to more than half of the country's population of 3.2 million, suffers from one of the world's worst air pollution in winter.
More than 800,000 residents, half of Ulan Bator's population, live in slums, also known as ger districts. They burn raw coal and other flammable materials to keep warm and cook meals during the six-month-long winter season.
It is estimated that 80 percent of air pollution in the city is caused by ger stoves.
