Air pollution occurs when harmful or excessive quantities of substances are introduced into Earth's atmosphere. In 2016, Environmental Performance Index (EPI) of Nepal’s air quality ranked 177th out of 180 countries and, in Asia, Kathmandu is ranked one of the most polluted cities . According to a report of World Health Organization (WHO), the maximum status of fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5) in urban areas of Nepal was noted to be 140 µg/m3  which is 10 times higher than the desirable value.

Air pollution has been a huge burden to the residents of Kathmandu, threatening the lives of thousands of people of every year. Nepal, especially Kathmandu, in the current situation, is observing rapid urbanization and various infrastructure development projects. As a result, these sorts of human activities have been responsible for increasing air pollution in an enormous rate inside Kathmandu Valley. Air quality rules indicate that the recordings should be 40 micron(2.5PM) but the reports in Kathmandu shows that they are far away from it. According to WHO, it should be only 25 micron. According to Department of Environment, in 2017, 24-hour average of Total Suspended Particles (TSP) in a site in Kathmandu was 4,749 µg/m3, average PM10 was 2,928 µg/m3, and PM 2.5 was 226 µg/m3. Another major contributing factor to air pollution in the Valley is due to unmanaged transport system. A report from the transport authority showed a significant rise in the number of vehicles in the country over recent years with increased unplanned urbanization. For example, the total number of vehicles in 1989-1990 was 76,378, and this figure increased to 1,348,995 in 2011- 2012. The percentage of high emission vehicles increases with vehicle age, and it is reported that 30% of five-year-old vehicles emit excessive pollution. Vehicular emissions constitute about 38% of the total pollution in Kathmandu Valley alone.

Impacts of Air Pollution

A variety of respiratory and other diseases, which can also be fatal, are caused by outdoor and indoor air pollution in Nepal, along with the rapid and uncontrolled urbanization and haphazard developmental projects, people are being victimized with serious airborne diseases. The Constitution of Nepal 2015 has mentioned that clean and healthy environment should be guaranteed to the people as their primary right. National health policy of Nepal has included air pollution as a priority research/public health agenda, but implementation part has not been efficient. In Nepal, 35,000 people die annually due to illnesses caused by polluted air. Average life expectancy is reduced by at least four years in the worst-affected areas like Kathmandu Valley, Chitwan and other parts of the Terai.

Nepal Air Quality Landscape

1991 Banning diesel operated three wheeler

1993 Initiation of vehicle emission test (green sticker)

1994 Introduction of electric three wheelers

1995 Establishment of MoPE

1995 Tail Pipe Emission Standards

1996 Safa tempo brought in Kathmandu

1997 Lead free gasoline introduced

1999 Ban on two stroke engines and old vehicles

2001 10% additional tax per year for old vehicles

2001 National Transport Policy

2003 NAAQS introduced ( updated in 2012)

2012 Euro III emission standards

2014 Livable Kathmandu Campaign

2015 Reduction in custom tax for EV

2017 Euro IV standard

2017 Air Pollution Control Taskforce

2017 Comprehensive work plan on minimizing air

2018 Ban twenty-year old public vehicles

Effort to tackle pollution

·       We can move away from fossil fuels, replacing them with alternative energies like solar, wind and geothermal to reduce air pollution.

·       Production of clean energy is important.

·       We can use eco friendly way of transmission like Bicycle.

·       Afforestation plays a major role in air pollution. Let’s all plant trees.

·       Strict laws against air pollution and implementation of the laws is important

·       Awareness on people on Air Pollution

Reference:

https://www.hindawi.com/journals/jeph/2018/1504591/

https://airsouthasia.files.wordpress.com/2018/08/nhrc.pdf

https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/air-pollution-is-more-dangerous-than-smoking/

http://pollution.gov.np