For a short time in December 2025, people in Kathmandu Valley allowed themselves to feel something rare hope. The mountain peaks, usually hidden behind thick haze, became visible again. The morning air did not burn the eyes or throat. The data from the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) seemed to confirm what people felt-the average PM 2.5 level was only 45 µg/m³. It was much better than the previous winter. For a city that rarely breathes clean air, it felt like things were finally changing.
But this hope was illusory. It was a brief pause in the people's usual habits, nothing more. Now, in the first days of February 2026, the truth is clear again. The air quality index recently hit 175, making Kathmandu one of the most polluted cities in the world. The city's hospitals are full of patients struggling to breathe. That short period of clean air in December is already forgotten. What remains is the same old problem: we are choking, and nothing really changes.
The ICIMOD numbers do not show success. They show how fragile our situation is. Yes, December was cleaner. But from January 9 to January 31, PM2.5 levels went up to 85 µg/m³-higher than the same time last year. Over the whole winter, the average was around 50 µg/m³. This is lower than last year, but still many times higher than what the World Health Organization says is safe for humans. This is not real progress. It is just a small change in a long-term catastrophe. December was not caused by good policies or real change in how the city works. It was probably just luck-less construction work, fewer vehicles on the road for a while. It fooled us into thinking we were healing, but the scourge was still there.
We need to stop celebrating these small, temporary improvements. When we do that, we stop taking responsibility. As soon as the brick kilns started working fully again, as soon as the old, polluting vehicles filled the roads again, as soon as construction dust rose once more-the pollution came back. And it came back hard. This shows how empty our environmental rules really are. Officials often say Kathmandu Valley is like a bowl that traps pollution. That is true. But we are the ones filling the bowl. We fill it with smoke from vehicles that have not been tested for almost a year. We fill it with smoke from hundreds of brick kilns that have no controls. We fill it with dust from construction projects that follow no rules.
The failure of Municipal government is most clear when you look at vehicle emission testing. This testing stopped in June 2025 because one contract worker left for a better job. Since then, nothing has happened. A city that cannot breathe cannot do basic pollution tests because of a staffing problem? This is not just a small issue. It shows how little our leaders care. Last year, tests showed that nearly 80% of our diesel vehicles release black smoke far above the legal limit. For months, these vehicles have been moving through our streets freely, making the air worse for everyone. The message from the city government is simple: the environment is not a priority. When there is any small problem, they just give up.
This is not just about numbers on a screen. It is about real people. It is about patients lying in the hallways of Bir Hospital because all the beds are full. It is about old people and young children whose lungs give up first. The tiny particles we breathe every day are not just annoying. They are dangerous. They go deep into our lungs, enter our blood, and damage every part of our bodies. Right now, this causes pneumonia and bronchitis that fill our hospitals. Doctors say even young people are coming in with serious breathing problems. Over time, this slow poisoning leads to cancers, heart disease, and kidney failure. We are not just polluting the air. We are creating a future where our hospitals cannot cope, and our people suffer for decades.
The government has made plans. The National Environment Policy, 2076, and the Kathmandu Valley Air Quality Management Action Plan are good documents. But they sit on shelves. They gather dust while real dust chokes us. The Action Plan says that when AQI goes above 300, it is a disaster and emergency steps must be taken. But why wait for a disaster? Our AQI right now is 175. This is not safe. It is just not yet called an emergency. We have accepted unhealthy air as normal. We breathe levels of poison that would cause public anger in any developed country. The Plan talks about banning waste burning, using street vacuum cleaners, and giving public health warnings. These are small steps. They do not fix the real problem: our addiction to fossil fuels, our unplanned city growth, and our failure to enforce the laws we already have.
The National Air Quality Management Plan is called an important first step. But a first step without a second step is useless. We need real action. We need more electric public transport, not just small projects. We need brick kilns to change or close. We need the construction industry to control its dust. We need local governments to actually enforce rules, not make excuses about staff leaving. We need to admit that pollution comes from India too, but not use that as an excuse. It just means we must control our own pollution even more strictly.
Now we are moving toward the pre-monsoon season. We know what is coming. Dry days will bring more road dust. Hillside fires will add more smoke. Construction will continue. The clear air of December 2025 was not a sign of a better future. It was a reminder of what we could have, if we had the will to act. It showed us a Kathmandu that we are choosing not to build.
The winter of 2025-2026 is about to over. But its lesson should stay with us. We cannot let another short period of clean air fool us again. We must see it for what it is-a challenge. It is a challenge to prove we can make that clean air last, through real, sustained action. Until we do that, the air will keep killing us slowly. And our hope will remain just a winter dream.
Karki is the Founding President of Nepal Forum of Science Journalists