The “Booj Ukhlee” (Chocking to Death) movement against air pollution resumed with a lie-in protest with elderly people and children at Sukhbaatar Square last Saturday. Mums and Dads Against Smog NGO organized the lie-in, also known as dead-in, to implant a stronger image of how the air pollution in the city is slowly killing them while causing all kinds of respiratory diseases to all members of the public. While the young and old laid on freezing cold pavement at -14 degrees Celsius for hours at the southwestern side of Sukhbaatar Square with only a thin mattress to lessen the cold hard surface, members of Parliament, Cabinet and Ulaanbaatar City Council paid respect to Chinggis Khaan’s statue in commemoration of the 26th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution. They completely ignored the lie-in as they made their way to General D.Sukhbaatar’s statue at the center of the square to lay wreaths only a few feet away from the protesters. Mums and Dads Against Smog has been actively fighting against smog in Ulaanbaatar for over a year, organizing various peaceful demonstrations to demand the government to take action. As a result, the state and city officials have started taking an array of anti-pollution measures and projects, such as distributing masks and air filtration systems to educational institutions, stimulating ger area re-development program, offering free nighttime electricity, promoting eco-friendly stoves, and banning the use of raw coal along with many others. “Since its establishment, our NGO has organized five demonstrations against air pollution, demanding government and decision-makers to take efficient and substantial measures as soon as possible. Nonetheless, decision-makers are still talking about distributing stoves and improved fuels. Thus, we have decided to organize today (January 13)’s protest. We are lying down on the cold cement in this freezing cold winter for the sake of our children's health and their future,” Head of Mums and Dads Against Smog Ts.Purevkhuu stated during the lie-in. “We demand that the government takes urgent housing measures and reconsider its decision to distribute stoves and fuels. We will exact a stronger form of protest next if decision-makers do not accept our demand.” This time, Ulaanbaatar residents held signs and boards that read “We’re choking to death”, “We need clean air”, “For whose benefit is the government forcing 60,000 heaters to us?”, and “Quickly issue green loans so that we can insulate to our homes and personally get involved!”. Demonstrators stated that they will continue to protest for the sake of their children and future generations no matter how cold it is or how long they have to endeavor. Air pollution is one of the most urgent challenges in Ulaanbaatar that has been discussed numerous time but seen little improvement over the past 20 years. Mums and Dads Against Smog’s first demonstration held on December 26, 2016 at the Sukhbaatar Square shook up the public and helped many realize the severity the smog polluting the city. The demonstration was aimed to demand the government to provide a detailed report on its anti-smog operations and urge them to take more effective and immediate action. After a few more public demonstrations, the government responded and made most of their projects aimed to improve the air quality in the city transparent and allocated a higher budget for such measure. However, air quality monitoring stations set up throughout Ulaanbaatar still signal air pollution as “hazardous”. On Sunday morning at 11:00 a.m., PM2.5 level was recorded 409 micrograms per cubic meters at Tolgoit area and 371 micrograms per cubic meters at MNB, indicating that air pollution is at hazardous level. Sensors at Nisekh, Bayankhoshuu, and the Western Central Intersection were at “very unhealthy” level, measuring from 222 to 286 micrograms per cubic meters, while the other sensors signaled “unhealthy”, PM 2.5 measuring slightly under 200 micrograms per cubic meters.