What is Kathmandu known for? Yes, it is the valley with half a dozen of world heritage sites. It is the city where people from across the country come for jobs, better health treatment and better educational opportunities. Kathmandu has not lost its luster even after the country went for a federal set up and we have provincial governments in all seven places. There is something magnetic about Kathmandu. But this otherwise beautiful Kathmandu Valley, with hills and mountains on its sides, for the past few years has acquired a disturbing identity: the valley of dust. You cannot walk out without wearing a mask, where residents do not expect to return home clean after setting out for work in the morning. Pollution has defaced Kathmandu. It has become dirty and grim city. This is tragic, unfortunate.
‘Air pollution killing double of what tobacco kills in Kathmand...
According to 2017 Pollution Index by Serbia-based research company Numbeo, Kathmandu is the seventh worst place among 290 cities in the world in terms of severity of pollution. We are worse than Beijing of China and New Delhi of India, which rank 14th and 16th places respectively in the most-polluted cities index. Numbeo research makes this assessment largely based on air pollution, which is too high in Kathmandu. Other researchers have reinforced this fact. The most recent Air Quality Life Index of the University of Chicago’s Energy Policy Institute ranks Nepal first out of 220 countries in pollution. Nepal, according to this index, has a Particulate Pollution PM2.5 of 55.2 against the WHO guideline of 10. It need not be emphasized that pollution has already started to take toll on human health. The 2016 data of World Health Organization had revealed that Nepal’s air pollution is so fatal that it kills more people than those killed by the road accidents. Compared to about 2,000 deaths by road accidents in the country, claimed WHO data, ambient air pollution killed a staggering 9,943 people in Nepal in 2012. As many as 36 people out of every 100,000 die in Nepal due to various deadly diseases linked to air pollution, it said. The situation is alarming.
As things stand, Kathmandu Metropolitan authorities have been just watching the mess. With simple measures like using broomer machines, we could have made a lot of difference. Kathmandu air could have been made breathable. The metropolitan authorities had some excuse during laying of Melamchi drinking water pipe last year—which had significantly contributed to Kathmandu’s pollution index. Now that work has been almost complete. So valley authorities have no excuse to just sit back and watch the people choking. Most of Kathmandu streets have become unwalkable. Blowing dusts, along with harmful fumes coming out from old and outdated vehicles, are suffocating the residents of this valley on a daily basis. It has already damaged our reputation. We cannot expect tourists to come and visit when we keep our capital city one of the most polluted in the world. Time is running out to restore cleanliness of Kathmandu. City authority, gear up all efforts for the cause.
