Sandesh Chauhan
Urbanization and immigration are the primary causes for the increase in air pollutants in the Kathmandu valley, according to a research conducted by a team of six experts. The World Health Organization in collaboration with the Government of Nepal and Urban Health Initiative had assigned the team to analyze the degree of air pollution in the valley.
The research was conducted under the leadership of Ms. Puja Bharati from the Department of Community Development at Kathmandu University School of Arts. According to the research, the current situation of air in the highly urbanized cities of Kathmandu valley has rising composition of harmful pollutants. The massive air pollution of Kathmandu valley is directly linked with Particulate Matter- particles in the air content in the air, as stated by the research.
The research has been divided into two areas: indoors and outdoors perspectives of air pollution and has focused on five sectors: Transportation pollution, carried out by Prof. Dr. Bibek Baral; Industrial pollution, undertaken by Mr. Pawan Karki; Solid waste by Prof. Dr. Sanjay Nath Khanal; Indoor air pollution by Dr. Sunil Lohani; and Data analysis carried out by Dr. Dhiraj Giri.
“The Urban Health Initiative is a government program that researches the health-related effects of urbanization,” said Ms. Bharati. “The current situation of PM 2.5 in Kathmandu valley is 10 times more than the amount mentioned by the WHO. PM 2.5 is responsible for major health related problems in relation with PM 10.”
PM 2.5 is an atmospheric particulate matter having a diameter of about 2.5 micrometers, which is around 3 percent the diameter of a human hair. It causes different respiratory health problems like Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases, skin allergies, lung cancer, heart diseases, asthma, short term fever, infection on both lower and upper food pipe.
“Kathmandu is not really polluted in the sense that there are mainly dust particles in the atmosphere, which is not exactly listed as a pollutant,” said Dr. Dhiraj Giri, the head of data analysis in the research. “A policy for the control of air pollution has not been set by the government yet. We are conducting a research to bring an empirical analysis on the table to create policies for the reduction of pollution in Nepal.”
Public vehicles and motorbikes are the main source of air pollutants according to the research. The number of motorbikes have been increasing rapidly in the streets of Kathmandu. The research shows that motor vehicles are the prime producers of PM 2.5, and that there will be an increase in the ratio of PM 2.5 particles if we do not implement policies to deal with this problem.
PM 2.5 is supposed to have a composition of 44 particle matters in the air, which is the threshold for normal breathable air. However, in Kathmandu, the composition is 49 particle matters, which isn’t that high, but there need to be policies in place to stop the numbers from increasing to harmful levels.
The value of PM 2.5 in the Kathmandu Valley changes according to season. The value peaks during summer when bricking – the industrial mass production of bricks – begins around the valley. . “There are about 110 bricking factories inside the Kathmandu valley, almost all of which have changed their firing system to the ‘zigzag method’ after the 2015 earthquake,” said Ms. Bharati. The value is at its lowest during monsoon.
The research estimates that around 30 percent of pollution can be reduced by 2030 if the country complies with the policies that the government has made to control air pollution. However, the research is still ongoing and will be published by the WHO once it is complete.