KATHMANDU: Nepal’s six air pollution monitoring stations — all concentrated in the Kathmandu Valley — are defunct for last ten months. All the six stations, which were set up in Putali Sadak, Patan, Bhaktapur, Matsye Gaun , Tribhuwan University and Thamel in 2003, are now inoperative.

“We are maintaining the stations and have the plan to restart them soon,” said Sushma Upadhyay, focal person, Ministry of Environment, dispensed with the task of looking into the stations. The monitoring equipment were functioning well before 2007 but they gradually went dysfunctional due to erratic power cuts. They were closed down from March 1, 2009, according to the ministry. The stations were used for monitoring the pollutants -Nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide, benzene and toxic micro pollutants like lead and polycyclic aromatic Hydrocarbon. After the machine broke down, air quality in the Valley remains unknown. “The machines are not equipped with alternative backup system to cope with the load-shedding, thus, they are not functioning,” added Upadhyay. However, she said the maintenance is gaining momentum and the equipment could be working soon. Air quality data after 2008 are not available.

According to Bhushan Tuladhar, air pollution expert, the government has not been able to make use of the expensive devices received in grant from the Danish aid agency - DANIDA. “Apart from losing valuable scientific data, the government has failed to perform a simple maintenance work due since a year,” bemoaned Tuladhar.