KATHMANDU, SEPTEMBER 27
Traffic police have taken action against 343 highly polluting vehicles in Kathmandu valley over a period of three months.
Emission tests were conducted in the busiest traffic intersections of the valley on the basis of random sampling. The vehicles included both private and public ones. Of the 150 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 16 December 2022 in Kathmandu valley if his/her vehicle failed to go through the emission test during surprise check, according to KVTPO Spokesperson SSP Rajendra Prasad Bhatta.
The DoE has appealed to all to bring their vehicles to the road only after obtaining emission clearance from the Transport Management Office on the basis of necessary repairs 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.
As per vehicle emission standards permissible level for four-wheelers registered in Nepal should not exceed 4.5 per cent of carbon monoxide of the total emission and 1,000 parts per million of hydrocarbon concentration.
A version of this article appears in the print on September 28, 2023, of The Himalayan Times
