As people fear another wave of Covid-19 a year after the government first imposed restrictions in the country, another health concern related to respiratory illnesses caused by toxins in the environment has come to the fore. AQI levels in north India and Nepal on 5 January at 8AM showing Kathmandu's much higher pollution levels compared to New Delhi. There will be complications in irrigation facility, deforestation will take place and landslides may occur, the water resources will get soaked. A Love Beyond Measure: The Unforgettable Reunion, , . Between 301 and 400 (maroon), the air quality is at a hazardous level; it has more severe health implications. In Nepal and Kathmandu the annual premature death due to air pollution hit 37,399 and 9943 respectively, according to a Republica news report published on 23 November 2019. There is a proportionately very high consumption of gasoline and diesel in the valley. Since the festival of Diwali ended last week, the air quality in New Delhi has drastically deteriorated, resulting in air pollution levels reaching nearly 10 times healthy limits. Education ministry spokesman Deepak Sharma said about eight million students have been affected by the closures. Apex court orders acceptance of writ against PM, dubbed one of the most polluted cities in the world, air pollution levels reaching nearly 10 times healthy limits, 22 of the worlds most polluted cities in 2018, ranked Nepal the eighth most polluted country, PM2.5 level for Kathmandu in 2018 was 54.4 micrograms per cubic meter (g/m3, deteriorating quality of air in Kathmandu Valley, Overextraction and shrinking open spaces cause groundwater depletion in Kathmandu Valley, As season of forest fires starts, authorities alert public to risks, History and politics of Nepals school education, Insurgency-era victims of sexual crimes still unheard. Moreover, Kathmandu is ranked as one of the most polluted cities in Asia:according to the airvisual.com, Kathmandu is the seventh most polluted city. Yet, 2022 could prove to be a seminal year for the environment, with . Copper multifaceted interferences during swine wastewater treatment in high rate algal ponds: Alterations on nutrient removal, biomass composition and resource recovery. A mask at best is a temporary solution and does not block harmful gases. Taking action to tackle the pollution in Nepal However, the record-breaking pollution this winter will add to the risk of the coronavirus. Globally, air pollution results in around sevenmillion deaths annually. Yours sincerely, Rajesh. I dont remember this level of pollution in Kathmandu in the past, Khadka told Reuters. Electrified public transport would have been a good place to start, but 6 months after Prime Minister KP Oli launched an electric mobility action plan to turn at least 20% of public vehicles into battery-operated ones by 2020, progress has been slow. Though the readings slowly became less alarming after the morning hours, at 10:00 am and onwards, the readings for Simara was still lingering above 300; others (stations mentioned above) showed the index between 151 to 200. hit their highest in the capital since the government began keeping records in 2016, government official Shankar Paudel told Reuters. Because indoor air pollution levels are also high, ideally you would have to wear a mask 24 hours a day, says Pangeni. Q : Which country has the highest number of time zones. The environment of the industrial areas should be properly managed by the industries and concerned agencies. climbed to hazardous levels, forcing millions of students to stay home across the country. The World Health Organisation ('WHO') has reported that PM2.5 levels of particulate matter in urban areas of Nepal . Controlling tobacco in Nepal is already such a big challenge, butKathmandus degrading air quality has doubled the disease burden, says health activist Shanta Lall Mulmi. Researchers at the University of Edinburgh recently concluded that surgical masks blocked 80% of particles sized 0.007 microns. KATHMANDU Nepal has ordered schools to close for four days after air pollution climbed to hazardous levels, forcing millions of students to stay home across the country. In addition, vehicles passing over broken or traveled road release huge amounts of dust particles into the air, worsening air pollution further. 18/11/2022. The funds are the first . systema The 24-hour average level of PM2.5, fine particulate matter that can reach deep . The first step in controlling air pollution is with electric public transport because vehicular emissions make up the majority of pollutants in Kathmandus air, says environmentalist Bhushan Tuladhar. Even before Covid-19, the World Health Organisation (WHO) had warned that poorair qualityin northern India and the Tarai was already thereducing average lifespanof tens of millions of people by 3.7 years. Nepal, with a population of 30 million people, is located in the Himalayas between China and India, two of the world's biggest polluters. "Trans-boundary pollution can affect our air quality too as Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, connected to Nepal, are also polluted. The effect of dust is not limited to human beings, but is also felt by plants, particularly to those closer to the road. Fewer, though still substantial minorities ranging between 40% and 45% . Nestled between China and India - two of the world's biggest polluters - Nepal often . Smog has blanketed huge swaths of Nepal as air pollution in the Himalayan country soared to hazardous levels. It remained at above 500 from 10PM till 5AM, falling to 480 at 7AM on Tuesday. Editor Online: Sahina Shrestha | Executive Editor: Sonia Awale The COP27 sponsor's products were the most commonly found items by volunteers researching plastic pollution. Air pollution is a chronic problem in the rapidly growing capital city of Kathmandu and an additional headache for the government that is struggling to contain the coronavirus pandemic. Also, news from United Nations. To The Editor The . Students participate in activities such as program evaluation and monitoring, public health surveillance, program development, risk assessments and analysis, development of policy briefs . Officials at Nepals only international airport in Kathmandu said poor visibility, which was down to 1,000 metres on Monday, widely disrupted flights. Measurement of air quality through the Air Quality Index (AQI) in city areas of the centralised valley, along with few areas of the Tarai region, shows that air pollution has become rampant. AQI level between 0-50 is Good, 51-100 is Moderate, 101-150 is Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups, 151-200 is Unhealthy, 201-300 is Very Unhealthy, and anything above 301 is regarded as Hazardous. newspaper article on environmental pollution in nepal Posted by July 3, 2022 morenci area schools staff on newspaper article on environmental pollution in nepal 30 Mar 2021. The report highlights dire consequences for health, the economy, biodiversity and the climate. Our aim is to educate and inform as many people as possible about the wonders of nature, the crisis we face and the best solutions and methods in managing that crisis. Vehicular emissions or traffic related particulate matter has serious health effects such as increased respiratory disease, reduced lung function, asthma, cardiac arrhythmias, heart disease etc. Despite the fact that most people in our country are breathing the air with such perilous level pollution, we still lack the vigour to act responsibly against the situation. The US Environmental Protection Agency gave the all clear for residents to return home shortly after the February 3 derailment and controlled burn that followed. D espite public awareness and relentless media coverage, Kathmandu's air quality has worsened in the past two years. Donate to The Ecologist and support high impact environmental journalism and analysis. There are dozens of varieties of masks available in the market, along with air purifiers that cost more than Rs130,000. The moves reflect residents deep-seated mistrust of government screenings of toxic chemicals and fears of long-term effects from the train derailment. Collective action from many sectors is needed to assure that everyone can breathe clean air.. This also adds to the risk of COVID-19, said Sher Bahadur Pun, a doctor at a tropical and infectious disease hospital in the capital. In recent years, cities in the Tarai have become infamous for the poor quality of their air, mostly because of the heavy presence of industries, dust from construction, and also trans-boundary pollution. Vehicular emissions or traffic related particulate matter has serious health effects such as increased respiratory disease, reduced lung function, asthma, cardiac arrhythmias, heart disease etc. This has a negative impact on sectors that are critical to many economies, including tourism, shipping and fisheries. It is a call to mobilize, say the authors who . One of those rivers is the Melamchi, about 25 . Nepal's Environment Protection Rules 2020 (2077) lists projects that need IEEs under Schedule 2, and those that need EIAs under Schedule 3. says that 100% of the population in India lives in areas where PM2.5 levels are higher than the WHO Air Quality Guideline. The air pollution emergency in Kathmandu puts the elderly, those with asthma and other respiratory ailments at high risk, and would be especially dangerous to those with Covid-19. Ever since the lockdown started in Nepal, there has been a . 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Whilstthis shows an improvement over the course of one year, when observing datataken from the capital city . In 2000 / 2001 there were 24,003 vehicles registered in Kathmandu and this has increased dramatically to 79,822 in 2015 / 2016. The Department of Environments own measuring station in parts of Kathmandu showed the AQI staying above 400 all day on Monday. Fri 3 Mar 2023 06.19 EST. Afforestation should begin and deforestation should come to an end. Kathmandu has dangerous levels of air and water pollution, making certain regions of the city nearly unlivable. This company thinks bacteria can help fix fashion's water pollution problem. Dust from construction works, exhaust from old, poorly maintained vehicles and smoke from coal-burning brick kilns blend in a murky haze that hangs over the ancient city of four million people, raising the risk of cancer, stroke, asthma and high blood pressure, experts say. Indeed, a long-term solution requires policy level intervention and coordination between all branches of government. From his home in Kathmandus Chabahil, Basudevs walks take him around Pashupatinath Temple and the Guheshwori area. Al Jazeera Centre for Public Liberties & Human Rights. 1. This may collapse the whole ecosystem in general. We human beings have been using the natural resources profusely. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved, Human error eyed as cause of Yeti Airlines crash that killed 72 people, 2 Americans, 2 permanent US residents among 72 dead in Nepal plane crash, Father of flight attendant urged her not to work before Nepal crash left 70 dead, Nepal to send data recorder from crash to France. But poor air quality from as far as New Delhi cannot penetrate deep into Nepal.. These two are just representative examples of millions of people who are directly or indirectly affected by dust,a burning issue ofthe twenty firstcentury. But public outrage does not seem to translate into action to clean up the air. It urges the polluters to pay for the damage done to the natural environment. Other global AQI measurement sites like. Air pollution is a chronic problem in . The rapid use of fossil fuels, increase in deforestation, unstable use of natural resources, overuse of pesticides and other chemicals, sewage and wastewater, nuclear waste, industrialization, urbanization, use of plastics and a lot more factors contribute to environmental pollution. Globally, air pollution results in around seven million deaths annually. This is a grave threat to public health, the government should have declared an emergency and taken urgent measures to curb pollution, says environmental expert Bhushan Tuladhar. At a time when KathmandusAQI was hitting record highs on Tuesday morningwith 438, the New Delhi suburb of Noida recorded less than 151 (AQI World map, below). The 24-hour average level of PM2.5, fine particulate matter that can reach deep into the lungs, was 214 micrograms per cubic metre in the upscale area of Bhaisepati in Kathmandu on Sunday, Department of Environment data showed.That compares with the government's standard level of 40 micrograms per cubic metre. There are cloth masks and surgical ones, some are disposable but many use replaceable filters. Under the US Clean Water Act, the EPA regulates wastewater discharge from meat and poultry plants into . The entire population is more likely to be affected. In countries such as China, India and Nepal, air quality may have slightly improved in recent years, but the health risks due to PM2.5 haven't changed much, he said. But there is a difference between the nature of air pollution in New Delhi and Kathmandu, said Tuladhar. The study, published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, found that in polluted urban areas, reducing air pollution could do as much as completely eliminating smoking would to lower rates of the 12 types of cancer most commonly associated with smoking, including lung cancer, stomach cancer, kidney cancer . The World Health Organization (WHO) reportsfine particulate matter of up to 140 g m-3 - which is aroundtentimes higher than the WHO limit. Strong laws related to environment should be made and implemented. The number of vehicles in the valley during the last two decades has increased ninefold, and reached 922,900 in total during 2015, according to the Department of Transport Management in Nepal. Krishna Kumar, a local business person at Kirtipur explained: Many businesses have gone down due to high amount of road dust. The governments standard level is 40 micrograms per cubic metre. Nepal is not far behind with 98% of its people living in such areas. Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal, has a population of around3.5 million. The Ecologist is an environmental news and analysis website with a focus on environmental, social and economic justice. Air quality in the capital has deteriorated recently but average pollution readings were not available. Education ministry spokesman Deepak Sharma said about eight million students have been affected by the closures. South Asia News: KATHMANDU: Nepal has ordered schools to close for four days after air pollution climbed to hazardous levels, forcing millions of students to stay home. The government has declared a public health emergency, asking schools to shut down and residents to avoid outdoor physical activities, especially during morning and late evening. "And it wasn't just the . 2022: Emergency mode for the environment. A road-widening spree, earthquake destruction and delays in fixing streets . Pollution means decline of the original qualities of the elements of the environment like air, water, land, etc. We are mainly responsible for the destructive changes in the environment. Site By: Hiti Design, The first step in reducing air pollution is to let, Nepali scientist returns to pinpoint hazards of dirty air, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IudF3qNM-xE&feature=youtu.benobha Gurung could have had a distinguished international career in, Sonia Awale s winter sets in and air quality deteriorates,. The World Air Quality Project's index stood at 515 at that time while that of the Department of Environment (DoE) stood at 490. We see fog in the morning and haze in the afternoon due to local dust pollution in the winter season.. New Delhi has seen a sudden spike whereas Kathmandu witnesses a gradual increase in pollution level starting from November and reaching peak levels in January.. This is what we learned. Only a year ago, snow clad mountains shone brightly in the winter and we could see the mountains and hills clearly. But it shall be helpful only if it is implemented. The average exposure for the officers was 51.2 g/m 3, with an hourly maximum of more than 500 g/m 3. As the new year gets underway, the world continues to grapple with a number of familiar challenges - the continued COVID-19 pandemic, resurgent wildfires, enduring crises of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution and waste. Similarly, household air pollution (HAP) was over 18-folds higherduring our survey in 2007 than the WHO recommended guidelines . ? The haze has become a part of our environment, impeding our view and lowering our visibility. In Nepal and Kathmandu the annual premature death due to air pollution hit 37,399 and 9943 respectively, according to a Republica news report published on 23 November 2019. Sonia Awale May 31, 2019. Espaol. The views expressed in the articles published on this site may not necessarily reflect those of the trust, its trustees or its staff. According to AQ AirVisual, a Swiss group that collects air-quality data from around the world, the annual average PM2.5 level for Kathmandu in 2018 was 54.4 micrograms per cubic meter (g/m3), an increase from 45.9 g/m3 in 2017. Air quality in the capital has deteriorated recently but average pollution readings were not available. Thefts of the pollution control devices from cars and trucks more than quadrupled from 3,389 in 2019 to 14,433 in 2020, and jumped dramatically again in 2021 . Rapid and haphazard urbanisation in the last few decades has resulted in the degradation of the environment, predominantly in terms of air pollution. Trans-boundary pollution can affect our air quality too as Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, connected to Nepal, are also polluted. These are the key points that needs to be followed in order to bring a positive change in the environment. The smoke generated from the wildfires worsened the pollution, according to an officer at the Division. put Kathmandus pollution level at 487 the highest among cities in the region. In this level of air quality, everyone may begin to experience health effects; members of sensitive groups may experience more serious health effects. Similarly, Dhangadhi was third in line to have the most degraded air quality among the list of stations measuring the AQI. Every year, we witness a surge in air pollution during the winter season. Department of Information Registration No. Phil Murphy but which has yet to take full effect should prevent the . The values between 151 and 200 are categorised as unhealthy. Health alert must be imposed on everyone as everybody is prone to experience more serious health effects. Three members of the Paudel family followed suit, but they never gave much thought to the quality of the air they were breathing in. In 2017, solar electricity costs dropped from $0.28 to $0.06 per kilowatt-hour for utility-scale photovoltaic solar power. By Sophie Wodzak,Emily Cochrane and Lisa Friedman. Motorcycles and passenger vehicles such as jeeps, cars and vansaccountedfor 92 percentof total registered vehicles in Bagmatiby the end of 2014-15. World news on global warming, climate change, wildlife, pollution, carbon business and climate politics. In 2013, a team of Cambridge University scientists were in Nepal's Kathmandu Valley, developing a device to measure . purely b. wisely c. competentlyd. There is now growing fear that the toxic air of India, which had 22 of the worlds most polluted cities in 2018, will reach Nepal and cause a similar health panic, especially as the country itself has been struggling to check its air pollution levels. Our environment determines our health and civilization. At a time when Kathmandu's AQI was hitting record highs on Tuesday morning with 438, the New Delhi suburb of Noida recorded less than 151 ( AQI World map, below). PAUL, Minn. (AP) The Minnesota Senate voted Thursday to make it harder for thieves to sell stolen catalytic converters, a crime that has skyrocketed across the country in recent years. Motorcycles and passenger vehicles such as jeeps, cars and vans accounted for 92 percent of total registered vehicles in Bagmati by the end of 2014-15. ? The rapid use of fossil fuels, increase in deforestation, unstable use of natural resources, overuse of pesticides and other chemicals, sewage and wastewater, nuclear waste, industrialization, urbanization, use of plastics and a lot more factors contribute to environmental pollution. Photo: Skanda Gautam/THT, A screenshot showing Air Quality Index (AQI) for various cities as measured at 8 am on Thursday, March 25, 2021. But the Narayani's problems go back further. The Art of Dealing with Breaking Up: Get over those blues and Take Break-Ups Lightly. Factors contributing to this level of pollution are local," said Shankar Prasad Paudel, information officer with the Department of Environment. Over the weekend, pollution levels hit their highest in the capital since the government began keeping records in 2016, government official Shankar Paudel told Reuters. But so far, the government has done almost nothing to control air pollution.. Plastic pollution in oceans and other bodies of water continues to grow sharply and could more than double by 2030, according to an assessment released on Thursday by the UN Environment Programme ( UNEP ). Kathmandu valley requireshalf of the total gasoline consumed in Nepal. As we see the readings from air quality metres located in various stations of the country, we find that Simara has the poorest air quality. Rivers, ponds and lakes should not be polluted because it affects animals and plants lives too. Located between China and India, two of the worlds biggest polluters, the Himalayan nation is seeing the worst pollution levels since 2016. Officials for the railroad company pulled out hours earlier, infuriating some residents who said they wanted answers from the company. Air qualities in cities like Birgunj, Nepalgunj and Bhairahawa get worse due to local air pollution, supported by stagnation of air in this season where there is an inversion of temperature, a reversal of the normal behaviour of temperature in the troposphere, said Poudel, the meteorologist. Moreover, Kathmandu is ranked as one of the most polluted cities in Asia: according to the airvisual.com, Kathmandu is the seventh most polluted city. Subsequent increase in number of vehicles is one of the main culprits of air pollution [ 33, 34 ]. Download the latest essay from our Megamorphosis series now. Legal provisions should be made in order for people to manage solid wastes properly. Similarly, one-fifth of the total diesel is used in Kathmandu. 22 September 2021. About three months later, at the present time, the pollution seems to have worsened. This site is using cookies under cookie policy . This indicates, around a quarter of the total deaths due to air pollution in Nepal are in Kathmandu. Find out more. Officials at Nepals only international airport in Kathmandu said poor visibility, which was down to 1,000 metres on Monday, widely disrupted flights. The same report ranked Nepal the eighth most polluted country in the world. To receive the magazine, become a member now. Environmental Health issues are a not major risk factors for the Global Burden of Diseases. And residents of the capital who smoke get a double whammy. Poor air quality in Kathmandu and inside rural homes due to smoky kitchen fires kill far more people across South Asia than SARS-CoV-2. With neighbouring India and China committed to manufacturing only electric automobiles by 2030, Nepal will be forced to go electric. The 24-hour average level of PM2.5, fine particulate matter that can reach deep into the lungs, was 214 micrograms per cubic metre in the upscale area of Bhaisepati in Kathmandu on Sunday, Department of Environment data showed.

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