I came back to my homeland this year. As soon as I walked out of the plane door, the first gasp of the air was home and that was incomparable to anything. It was home and nothing is quite like home.

Having spent a decade in a foreign land, visiting Nepal always fills me with excitement. It feels like coming back to your people, bumpy streets yet dear to the heart, local shops, the warmth, good food, affection and the fresh smell of earth.

This time of the year, the landing was much altered. To my utter surprise and disgust at the same time, I had landed myself in the city where the air that I breathed was girded by abundant harmful toxins and contamination. My eyes could not fathom the pollution that had roofed the horizon to a point where the sky did not look like the sky.

The sky that is meant to ease the eyes was entirely hazed. Smog in the atmosphere was so projecting, it occurred to me that breathing is a risk.

Even at home, suffocation was an issue. The quality of the air in Kathmandu and in Nepal overall has secured its place in the most hazardous spot. People are breathing air that triggers sickness and could potentially result in outbreak of several illnesses.

The question to the relevant authorities of Nepal and reputed organizations who have played a very important role as a donor of this project is, why is not anyone acting to at least mitigate the adverse consequences of the development projects?

The development projects have commenced in order to improve the conditions of living of the Nepalese, such as ensuring a better water supply, which is understandable. But were the risk factors evaluated before any development project was taken up?

Even if they were, where are the measures taken to alleviate the risks associated. We as common citizens can come up with an awareness about how the dust can be beaten during this process but why cannot a nation as a whole come up with an implementation of any ideas, let alone other environmental issues this country has been facing.

This issue could have been properly handled if the responsible government authorities and donor agencies were vigilant of the negative consequences.

Today,the media is so powerful and there is rarely anything that is unachievable if the issues are properly highlighted to make impact. It would draw an immense amount of public attention if this issue was broadcast by every news channel.