KATHMANDU, MAY 30

While the government, on Thursday, announcing the budget for fiscal year 2025-26, stressed provisions in the budget to prioritise public health and environmental protection by implementing standards for air, noise, and water pollution control, experts in the sector cautioned for the long-term political commitments and seriousness about it.

Finance Minister Bishnu Poudel stated that the national air quality standards will be updated and implemented to mitigate the effects of rising air pollution.

He stated that traditional manufacturing methods used in major cities across the country, including the Kathmandu Valley, will be encouraged to be replaced with electronic technology in order to reduce air pollution. He also stated that concessional loans would be provided to the private sector for this purpose.

However, Maheswar Rupakheti, a climate scientist and vice chair of IPCC Working Group I, after the budget announcement took to social media to share government commitments on controlling air pollution and wrote: 'Reviewing the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) regularly and updating them to be more stringent, ultimately with a wish to meet the WHO guidelines, is important-but not urgent. What we urgently need is a National Clean Air Action Plan backed by a Clean Air Act, both with clear targets and a defined timeline.'

Since air quality standards are long-term political commitments, they must be ambitious yet realistic, he noted. 'Simply adopting more stringent national standards or the WHO guidelines without a phased plan is neither practical nor enforceable. For example, annual PM2.5 concentrations recorded at DoE stations across the Kathmandu Valley from 2017–2021 ranged between 25–60 µg/m³-far exceeding the 2021 WHO guideline of 5 µg/m³. It is important to plan now how and by when we bring them down to, say, for example, 30 µg/m³.'

His post further states, 'While the constitutional right to clean air exists, it is meaningless without legal instruments and actionable strategies. The absence of a Clean Air Act and a robust National Clean Air Action Plan is the real gap.'

'To protect public health and uphold constitutional rights, the government must prioritise enacting a Clean Air Act and launching a National Clean Air Action Plan-now. Only then can we progressively move toward more stringent standards and real, measurable improvements in air quality,' he added in his post.

Earlier, in April, Nepal experienced the worst quality air pollution, posing severe health risks to Kathmandu denizens. This is a common story in Nepal during the winter months. As per reports, air pollution contributes to over 48,500 health fatalities. It is one of the leading causes of cardiovascular and respiratory problems.

Another air quality expert, Bhupendra Das, termed the government step a 'good step' but 'not so easy.' He argued in his post that everything can not be linked to electricity. 'What about heavy duty vehicles, forest fires, agriculture residue open burning, waste burning, etc., which are major contributors to air pollution?' reads his post.

'The most important concern was 'budget allocation' for the 'air quality-based plan and program/activities' and that too at the 'local/municipal level'.

Also, can we accept the national standard (e.g., killer pollutant PM2.5), which is almost 3 times higher than the 'WHO guideline'? It looks like the government is not so serious about air pollution.'