Kathmandu valley requires half of the total gasoline consumed in Nepal. In 2017, the Department of Environment had drafted an action plan to tackle the deteriorating quality of air in Kathmandu Valley. The Kathmandu Post : Find the latest breaking news from Nepal, opinion & analysis on Nepali politics, business, culture & arts, sports, movies, food & travel, books, education, auto & more at kathmandupost.com Motorcycles and passenger vehicles such as jeeps, cars and vans accounted for 92 percent of total registered vehicles in Bagmati by the end of 2014-15. Nestled between China and India - two of the world's biggest polluters - Nepal often . Sign up for our WEEKLY newsletters - and never miss out on the amazing news and comment articles we publish. And residents of the capital who smoke get a double whammy. Barun Poudel, a senior meteorologist at the Meteorological Forecasting Division, says that the chances of pollution travelling as far north as Kathmandu from Indian cities are slim, but that Nepali cities bordering India have already seen some impacts. The COP27 sponsor's products were the most commonly found items by volunteers researching plastic pollution. Change to compound, We took a tour of the most amazing Chateau during our holiday, which we discovered . by accident.a. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) intends to update its water pollution rules for slaughterhouses for the first time in nearly 20 years, the agency announced on Wednesday, following a lawsuit from environmental groups arguing current standards are too weak, according to Reuters. Other global AQI measurement sites like. South Asia News: KATHMANDU: Nepal has ordered schools to close for four days after air pollution climbed to hazardous levels, forcing millions of students to stay home. In 2013, a team of Cambridge University scientists were in Nepal's Kathmandu Valley, developing a device to measure . Factors contributing to this level of pollution are local, said Shankar Prasad Paudel, information officer with the Department of Environment. (left). But this winter, the haze barely let us see through it. New Delhi has seen a sudden spike whereas Kathmandu witnesses a gradual increase in pollution level starting from November and reaching peak levels in January.. Air pollution shortens lives more than any other external cause. Tags: environment, pollution, Philippines Coronavirus Bulletin Stay informed daily on the latest news and advice on COVID-19 from the editors at U.S. News & World Report. It is a major threat to global health and prosperity. Use of pesticides and fertilizers must be controlled. The environment of the industrial areas should be properly managed by the industries and concerned agencies. "We found that the pollution exposure was really, really high, suggesting potential for substantial health impacts of air pollution in this region," says Gurung, who is now a doctoral candidate at F&ES. Air quality in the capital has deteriorated recently but average pollution readings were not available. There has also been a 25% increase in the number of vehicles on the roads. Copper multifaceted interferences during swine wastewater treatment in high rate algal ponds: Alterations on nutrient removal, biomass composition and resource recovery. News from Indian environment including wildlife like tiger, lion, elephants. Department of Information Registration No. Air pollution is also the main environmental risk factor for non-communicable diseases like cancers and lung diseases, concludes a recent report by the NCD Alliance and the Forum of International Respiratory Scientists: The challenge is great, but the cure is straight-forward it must be met by national, regional, local and personal responses. hit their highest in the capital since the government began keeping records in 2016, government official Shankar Paudel told Reuters. AQI level between 0-50 is Good, 51-100 is Moderate, 101-150 is Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups, 151-200 is Unhealthy, 201-300 is Very Unhealthy, and anything above 301 is regarded as Hazardous. The government has also decided to sell the natural minerals like sand, rocks, mud etc to India. Site By: Hiti Design, On Monday night, the Air Quality Index (AQI) in parts of Kathmandu crossed 500, according to measurements at the. The air pollution emergency in Kathmandu puts the elderly, those with asthma and other respiratory ailments at high risk, and would be especially dangerous to those with Covid-19. The rapid use of fossil fuels, increase in deforestation, unstable use of natural resources, overuse of pesticides and other chemicals, sewage and wastewater, nuclear waste, industrialization, urbanization, use of plastics and a lot more factors contribute to environmental pollution. The country of 30 million people lies in the Himalayas between China and India, two of the worlds biggest polluters. All living being birds, animals, insects, plants and even human beings are victims of pollution. The PM 10 concentration in major cities such as Kathmandu is . Quantifying the socio-economic impact of air pollution on a country will be vital in raising awareness among the public as well as policy makers and leaders, but as we have seen in Nepal it does not immediately lead to policy change. KATHMANDU Nepal has ordered schools to close for four days after air pollution climbed to hazardous levels, forcing millions of students to stay home across the country. More than 65% of all deaths due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD) in 2019 were linked to air pollution in Nepal. Rapid and haphazard urbanisation in the last few decades has resulted in the degradation of the environment, predominantly in terms of air pollution. Between 301 and 400 (maroon), the air quality is at a hazardous level; it has more severe health implications. Environmental pollution is one of the greatest threats of the world today. In terms of air pollution, the 2016 Environmental Performance Index (EPI) ranked Nepal 177th out of 180 countries. The World Health Organisation (WHO)s guidelines state that AQI should be below 35, and the concentration of particles below 2.5 microns should be below 25 g/mover a 24 hour period. Around 100 people die every day in Nepal because of air pollution. A road-widening spree, earthquake destruction and delays in fixing streets dug up to replace water mains has turned the Valley into a dust bowl. , : Which country has the most number of lakes. This means Kathmandus pollution has been 15 times higher than the WHO standard. Why this advert is dangerous to people and nature and shows advertising needs new controls. In 2000 / 2001 there were 24,003 vehicles registered in Kathmandu and this has increased dramatically to 79,822 in 2015 / 2016. Officials at Nepals only international airport in Kathmandu said poor visibility, which was down to 1,000 metres on Monday, widely disrupted flights. World news on global warming, climate change, wildlife, pollution, carbon business and climate politics. The garbage should be properly disposed and managed. Legal provisions should be made in order for people to manage solid wastes properly. Of course, a masks effectiveness depends on how well it fits on the face, but a simple, disposable surgical mask can be more cost-effective than those fancy looking expensive ones. of tens of millions of people by 3.7 years. In Chabahil, Sunil remains concerned for his fathers health, who continues to take his walk despite the morning haze. Pollution means decline of the original qualities of the elements of the environment like air, water, land, etc. China will be the host nation and will showcase its dramatic progress in cutting pollution. The Biden Administration will make $250 million in grants available to develop strategies to cut climate pollution, the Environmental Protection Agency announced Wednesday. In Nepal and Kathmandu the annual premature death due to air pollution hit 37,399 and 9943 respectively, according to a Republica news report published on 23 November 2019. In this level of air quality, everyone may begin to experience health effects; members of sensitive groups may experience more serious health effects. Air quality in the capital has deteriorated recently but average pollution readings were not available. We could barely see the birds flying around before but nowadays we can see the birds chirping and flying up in the sky due to decrease in air pollution. The Department of Environments own measuring station in parts of Kathmandu showed the AQI staying above 400 all day on Monday. Advertisement 2426/077-78 Measurement of air quality through the Air Quality Index (AQI) in city areas of the centralised valley, along with few areas of the Tarai region, shows that air pollution has become rampant. Air pollution is a familiar environmental health hazard. Because Nepals national government and municipalities have done little to reduce risk, citizens have adopted their own methods of personal protection: wearing masks, installing air purifiers at home and office, cancelling morning walks, and monitoring air pollution levels on apps before allowing children to play outside. Krishna Kumar, a local business person at Kirtipur explained: Many businesses have gone down due to high amount of road dust. The report highlights dire consequences for health, the economy, biodiversity and the climate. Nepal is not far behind with 98% of its people living in such areas. The index stood at 214 as per DoE's data. "Trans-boundary pollution can affect our air quality too as Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, connected to Nepal, are also polluted. Butair pollution issues are continue to increase. And even though the nature of pollution in New Delhi and Kathmandu is varied, Nepal needs to learn to deal with its own toxic air. We are mainly responsible for the destructive changes in the environment. Krishna Kumar, a local business person at Kirtipur explained:Manybusinesseshavegone down due to high amount of road dust. once done will text u on pint nd ins, I saw a fantastic film yesterday. It remained at above 500 from 10PM till 5AM, falling to 480 at 7AM on Tuesday. The victims of air pollution urgently require an appropriate action plan for mitigating these problems. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Over the weekend, pollution levels hit their highest in the capital since the government began keeping records in 2016, government official Shankar Paudel told Reuters news agency. Looking at the air quality data over the last few years, it appears that Nepal made amarked improvement from 2018 to 2019, with a PM2.5 reading of 54.15 g/m beingrecorded as an average over 2018 as compared to 44.46 g/m in 2019. I have started wearing a mask whenever Im outdoors.. Recently the government has decided that the plastics that are less than 40 microns will be banned from use from the month of Shrawan 2078. The governments standard level is 40 micrograms per cubic metre. We know what we're looking at when brown haze settles over a city, exhaust billows across a busy highway, or a plume rises from a smokestack. Whilstthis shows an improvement over the course of one year, when observing datataken from the capital city . Find out about our mission, and our team, here. This year, I have already started feeling different. The leaves of plants are covered indust particles which limits the photosynthesis rate and affects the plants growth and natural beauty. When a vehicle passes by, dust is released into the air and pollutes the clothes that are kept for selling and the customers do not like the polluted ones. In Nepal, around 8,700 people, mainly women and children, die prematurely each year due to illnesses related to indoor air pollution from solid biomass fuel burning [8]. The first step in controlling air pollution is with electric public transport because vehicular emissions make up the majority of pollutants in Kathmandus air, says environmentalist Bhushan Tuladhar. Submissions Besides the quantity of fuel consumption, the poor road conditionof older vehicles istriggeringair quality problems in the valley. Air pollution is a chronic problem in the rapidly growing capital city of Kathmandu and an additional headache for the government that is struggling to contain the coronavirus pandemic. Their effectiveness also varies depending on the work place, environment and fitting. This indicates, around a quarter of the total deaths due to air pollution in Nepal are in Kathmandu. Q New Delhis AQI levels, which have been consistently high all winter because of crop residue burning as well as vehicular and industrial pollution, got a respite on Monday because of rainfall. With New Delhi and parts of northern India suffering under hazardous pollution levels, Nepal needs to take heed and prepare accordingly, environmental activists say. The major reason for high ambient air pollution in Nepal is largely from traffic related with old . Air pollution is slashing years from billions of people's lives around the world and is a greater threat to life expectancy than smoking, HIV/AIDS or war, a report published Wednesday shows.. By Sophie Wodzak,Emily Cochrane and Lisa Friedman. We can develop our own action plan to combat air pollution and also introduce other measures like enforcing green stickers for vehicles, among many others.. The leaves of plants are covered in dust particles which limits the photosynthesis rate and affects the plants growth and natural beauty. PM2.5, or Particulate Matter less than 2.5 microns thick, are among the most dangerous of air particles as they can get past the nose and throat to enter the lungs and even the bloodstream. Last modified on Fri 3 Mar 2023 20.17 EST. D espite public awareness and relentless media coverage, Kathmandu's air quality has worsened in the past two years. Officials at Nepals only international airport in Kathmandu said poor visibility, which was down to 1,000 metres on Monday, widely disrupted flights. As AQ AirVisual data shows, PM2.5 levels in Kathmandu saw a continuous rise last yearfrom 65.6 g/m3 in November, followed by 91.9 g/m3 in December, 92.5g/m3 in January and peaking at 96.3 g/m3 in February. ? Nearly two weeks after a train carrying toxic chemicals derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, confusing messages from government officials have frayed locals trust. Indeed, a long-term solution requires policy level intervention and coordination between all branches of government. Globally, air pollution results in around seven million deaths annually. Bhushan Tuladhar, an environmentalist who closely watches levels of air pollution in the country, agrees that there is a minimal chance of pollution from Delhi and northern India reaching Kathmandu, although cities in the Tarai are already dealing with poor air quality coming from across the border. The views expressed in the articles published on this site may not necessarily reflect those of the trust, its trustees or its staff. In countries such as China, India and Nepal, air quality may have slightly improved in recent years, but the health risks due to PM2.5 haven't changed much, he said. This company thinks bacteria can help fix fashion's water pollution problem. The effect of dust is not limited to human beings, but is also felt by plants, particularly to those closer to the road. Additionally, problems like littering and excessive carbon emissions are causing problems for both people and the environment. This is a very unpleasant decision. At the same hour, Bhaktapur's air quality degraded as low as 347 (according to The World Air Quality Project) while as per DoE's data it stood at 348. World news on global warming, climate change, wildlife, pollution, carbon business and climate politics. Moreover, Kathmandu is ranked as one of the most polluted cities in Asia:according to the airvisual.com, Kathmandu is the seventh most polluted city. It is a call to mobilize, say the authors who . Double whammy: air pollution and Covid-19, Photo: MONIKA DEUPALA n the past eight months of this, ir quality across Nepal has been deteriorating over the years., The first step in reducing air pollution is to let. Nepal, with a population of 30 million people, is located in the Himalayas between China and India, two of the world's biggest polluters. The rapid use of fossil fuels, increase in deforestation, unstable use of natural resources, overuse of pesticides and other chemicals, sewage and wastewater, nuclear waste, industrialization, urbanization, use of plastics and a lot more factors contribute to environmental pollution. According to the World Air Quality Report, Kathmandu is the seventh most polluted capital city in the world, based on its average yearly PM2.5 level. 2022: Emergency mode for the environment. The government should really take a closer look at what their decision might lead the environment and the whole country to in the future. This level is considered hazardous, and can lead to serious aggravation of heart or lung disease and premature mortality in persons with cardiopulmonary disease and the elderly, [along with] serious risk of respiratory effects in general population, according to the United States Environment Protection Agency. This also adds to the risk of COVID-19, said Sher Bahadur Pun, a doctor at a tropical and infectious disease hospital in the capital. This is a very great decision taken by the government. 12 February 2021. Officials for the railroad company pulled out hours earlier, infuriating some residents who said they wanted answers from the company. Education ministry spokesman Deepak Sharma said about eight million students have been affected by the closures. With a staggering 42 percent of the population living below the poverty line and only 27 percent with improved access to sanitation, there are quite a number of issues facing Nepal. Editor Online: Sahina Shrestha | Executive Editor: Sonia Awale New WHO Global Air Quality Guidelines (AQGs) provide clear evidence of the damage air pollution inflicts on human health, at even lower concentrations than previously understood. 1 ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION IN NEPAL Prof. Dr. Meen B. Poudyal Chhetri a and Anil Shakyab a Disaster Preparedness Network, Kathmandu, Nepal b Department of Urban Development and Building Construction, Ministry of Physical Planning and Works, Government of Nepal ABSTRACT Environmental degradation is a very big problem in Nepal which is causing human health Required fields are marked *. Even before Covid-19, the World Health Organisation (WHO) had warned that poorair qualityin northern India and the Tarai was already thereducing average lifespanof tens of millions of people by 3.7 years. Globally, air pollution results in around seven million deaths annually. Photo Courtesy: Department of Environment/Air Quality Montoring, A screenshot showing Air Quality Index (AQI) for various cities as measured at 9 am on Thursday, March 25, 2021. There will be complications in irrigation facility, deforestation will take place and landslides may occur, the water resources will get soaked. Kakhara Madhyam Pvt. Similarly, household air pollution (HAP) was over 18-folds higherduring our survey in 2007 than the WHO recommended guidelines . Download the latest essay from our Megamorphosis series now. Ever since the lockdown started in Nepal, there has been a little more positive change in the environment since the vehicles are barely on the road and people dont travel much. Air pollution is more dangerous than smoking. Kathmandu: Nepal has ordered schools to close for four days after air pollution climbed to hazardous levels, forcing millions of students to stay home across the country. Since PM2.5 are so small, they are also likely to hang in the air for longer, increasing the chances that they will be inhaled. This is a grave threat to public health, the government should have declared an emergency and taken urgent measures to curb pollution, says environmental expert Bhushan Tuladhar. says that 100% of the population in India lives in areas where PM2.5 levels are higher than the WHO Air Quality Guideline. As women play a significant role in the management and use of energy sources for household cooking, they are disproportionately affected by indoor air pollution [7]. at Phora Darbar. Or, download a free sample copy of a past issue of Resurgence & Ecologist. All of these vehicles degrade the air quality byemitting huge quantitiesof smoke into the ambient environment. ONTARIO, Calif., Sept. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Kickstarting the autonomous bus revolution in the US, the city of Houston is set to receive the first Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS), Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and Buy America-compliant mid-size autonomous bus in the US. When you can frame the problem in terms of how many people are dying and how much productivity is lost, then it becomes much more urgent.. Thanking you. This is a grave threat to public health, the government should have declared an emergency and taken urgent measures to curb pollution, says environmental expert Bhushan Tuladhar. The number of vehicles in the valley during the last two decades has increased ninefold, and reached 922,900 in total during 2015, according to the Department of Transport Management in Nepal. There are dozens of types of masks available in Kathmandu. Macrotech Developers Ltd. 997.35 152.6. This indicates, around a quarter of the total deaths due to air pollution in Nepal are in Kathmandu. The US Environmental Protection Agency gave the all clear for residents to return home shortly after the February 3 derailment and controlled burn that followed. Coca-Cola is named world's worst plastic polluter for a fifth year. Nepal, with a population of 30 million people, is located in the Himalayas between China and India, two of the worlds biggest polluters. An article by three Brazilian researchers published in Environmental Science and Pollution Research aims to contribute to progress in this field by proposing a novel perspective on particle . Apex court orders acceptance of writ against PM, dubbed one of the most polluted cities in the world, air pollution levels reaching nearly 10 times healthy limits, 22 of the worlds most polluted cities in 2018, ranked Nepal the eighth most polluted country, PM2.5 level for Kathmandu in 2018 was 54.4 micrograms per cubic meter (g/m3, deteriorating quality of air in Kathmandu Valley, Overextraction and shrinking open spaces cause groundwater depletion in Kathmandu Valley, As season of forest fires starts, authorities alert public to risks, History and politics of Nepals school education, Insurgency-era victims of sexual crimes still unheard.