The govt should also utilise the fund it has created to improve the air quality in the Valley
The number of people visiting hospitals for asthma, pneumonia and other respiratory ailments has increased in recent weeks, while domestic and international flights to and from the federal capital have also been badly affected due to the deteriorating air quality and thick smog in the bowl-shaped Kathmandu Valley. The Valley was once again ranked the world's most polluted city on Sunday, a condition which could affect the tourism business even as the spring climbing season is in full swing. IQ Air, a Swiss-based air quality technology company, in its global report, showed that the Valley topped all the cities in the world with an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 216 at around 8:00pm and AQI 208 at around 11am. The IQ air report is based on the US AQI parameter, which measures concentration of particulate matter (PM)2.5 and PM10. Both PM2.5 and PM10 are the smallest PM often generated from vehicular emissions and other fumes and can easily be inhaled even through the facemask. PM2.5 can go deep into the lungs and into the bloodstream causing adverse health effects. As per the US parameter, AQI between 0 and 50 is considered good air, 51 and 100 is moderate, 101 and 150 is unhealthy for sensitive groups, 151 and 200 is unhealthy for all and 301 and 500 is hazardous. So, Kathmandu's air quality has reached from 'steadily unhealthy' to 'very unhealthy', as per the report.
The recent report was released after gathering information from at least eight air quality monitoring stations in the Valley.
The Valley has remained in the list of the top most polluted cities for the last one month, largely due to lack of ample winter rainfall. The month of April is considered to be the driest month in Nepal. By evening at around 5:00pm, the AQI was recorded at 163, second after Tehran, which had AQI 290. The index has shown that AQI gets worse between 6:00am and 9:00am. So, doctors have advised people not to venture out for morning walks during that period. Kathmandu's average air quality is 30 times worse than the guideline set by the WHO.
Environmentalists and experts have blamed the inadequate winter rainfall for the deteriorating air pollution in the Valley, which traps the pollutants for longer periods for want of free flow of air from west to east. The recent forest fires in Bara, Parsa and Chitwan, burning of waste materials and agricultural fodder, and harmful gases emitted from vehicles, factories and brick kilns are responsible for the air pollution. Although we cannot expect rains as and when we wish, we can at least minimise the air pollution by switching to electric vehicles from fossil fuel-run ones and relocating the brick kilns and gas-emitting factories from the Valley. As the country has been able to generate enough electricity round the year, the government should introduce a consistent policy to encourage the people to shift to electric vehicles, and use electric stoves, ovens or heaters for cooking, bathing and keeping their rooms warm. Shifting to electricity will not only save hard-earned foreign currency reserves but will also contribute to improving the air quality in the urban centres and maintaining the local environment. The government should also properly utilise the fund it has created to improve the air quality in the Valley.
Big corruption
Just when the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) was under fire for being unable to unearth big corruption cases, it has chargesheeted nine persons at the Special Court for embezzling government money worth Rs 2.75 billion. If convicted, the defendants, who have been charged in the procurement of the power system for the security printing press at Banepa, will not only serve a jail term but will also pay fines equal to the amount embezzled. The security printing press is a huge project involving more than Rs 30 billion, and kickbacks while awarding contracts no matter how little can assume large sums of money.
Earlier, in 2021, the then communications minister, Gokul Banskota, lost his ministerial post following an audio tape leak in which he was heard negotiating Rs 700 million in commissions with the local agent of a Swiss supplier of printing equipment. The question now is, could the nine defendants, including the executive director of the Security Printing Centre Bikal Paudel, have engaged in corruption without the knowledge of those in power? The CIAA must keep an eye on all government projects, large and small, so as not to allow any irregularities in them.
