Hundreds of people staged a protest Wednesday in Kosovo's capital Pristina, urging the government to fight extremely high pollution.

Protesters blamed the government and local authorities for allowing hazardous levels of fine particulate matter, an air pollutant called PM2.5.

Even the policemen following the protest joined in the cause by wearing face masks.

Koha news website reports that the Ministry for Environment and Spatial Planning on Tuesday called on the Ministry of Local Government to undertake measures against air pollution. In a letter sent on Tuesday, the Ministry of Environment called for an action plan that would regulate the movement of vehicles, heating in households, business and other services, with the aim of reducing air pollution. The Pristina-based civic initiative Breathe said that on Monday, Pristina was the city with the highest air pollution in the world.

The news website reports that the Pristina-based initiative “Breathe” will organise a protest against air pollution in Pristina this week. Preparations for the protest are underway and 2,000 people are expected to take part.

Pristina has entered the red category with regards to air pollution, the air quality index supported by the US Embassy shows. The level of air pollution in Pristina has reached 161 which puts the Kosovo capital under the “unhealthy” category. Pristina Municipality did not comment on the recent figures saying it will come out with a report on the matter this Friday. At the same time, officials from the Green Party said the air pollution in Pristina is at an “alarming” scale.