KATHMANDU, JANUARY 7

Traffic police have detained more than 100 high-polluting vehicles in Kathmandu valley over the past three weeks.

The emission tests were conducted in the busiest traffic intersections of the valley on the basis of random sampling. Both private and public vehicles were checked. Of the 181 vehicles checked by the authorities, 100 failed to go through the emission test.

Kathmandu Valley Traffic Police Office said the vehicles which failed to pass the emission test were referred to the Department of Environment for legal action. 'Recently, the DoE had warned that any person could be penalised with a fine not exceeding Rs 100,000 beginning December 16 in Kathmandu valley if his/her vehicle failed to pass the emission test during surprise check,' said KVTPO Spokesperson SSP Rajendra Prasad Bhatta.

Issuing a public notice, the DoE had also appealed to one and all to bring their vehicles to the road only after obtaining emission clearance from the Transport Management Office on the basis of necessary repair and maintenance regimes to keep the emission level within permissible limits.

The Environment Protection Act 2019 empowers the director general of the DoE to impose a fine up to Rs 100,000 on polluters depending on the gravity of the case.

Air pollution often worsens during the winter season due to rise in open burning of waste and firewood coupled with excessive vehicle emission, forming a thick layer of smog in the atmosphere. As thick smog blocks the sunlight, decreased temperature traps cold air, leaving small pollutants at the lower level. They can be cleared and washed away only with rainfall.

As per vehicle emission standards implemented by the government, permissible level for four-wheelers registered in Nepal in or before 1980 should not exceed 4.5 per cent of carbon monoxide of the total emission and 1,000 parts per million of hydrocarbon concentration.

Four-wheelers registered in the country after 1981 should not emit CO exceeding three per cent of the total emission and should emit below 1,000 ppm hydrocarbons.

Similarly, two-wheelers are not permitted to emit CO exceeding 4.5 per cent of the total emission while their ppm hydrocarbon should be below 7,800.

A version of this article appears in the print on January 8, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.