But so far, the government has done almost nothing to control air pollution.. Nepal's Environment Protection Rules 2020 (2077) lists projects that need IEEs under Schedule 2, and those that need EIAs under Schedule 3. Nepal is a landlocked nation with the current population of over 27 million people. , : Which country has the most number of lakes. According to Poudel, the pollution level in the border towns of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar can slightly influence pollution along the border area. Air pollution has had a massive impact on Nepalese people. On Monday night, the Air Quality Index (AQI) in parts of Kathmandu crossed 500, according to measurements at theUS Embassy measuring stationat Phora Darbar. 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. Kathmandu has dangerous levels of air and water pollution, making certain regions of the city nearly unlivable. 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. We see fog in the morning and haze in the afternoon due to local dust pollution in the winter season.. Download the latest essay from our Megamorphosis series now. However, two years later, the action plan has neither been finalised nor enforced. Photo: Skanda Gautam/THT, A screenshot showing Air Quality Index (AQI) for various cities as measured at 8 am on Thursday, March 25, 2021. . The same report ranked Nepal the eighth most polluted country in the world. The 24-hour average level of PM2.5, fine particulate matter that can reach deep . Rather than benefits, morning walks could have serious health impacts, Sunil said. The recent Environmental Performance Index 2016 has suggested increase in overall PM 2.5 in Nepal over the last decade. Says Pallavi Pant, air quality scientist at the Health Effects Institute: Exposures to air pollution have been shown to affect the human bodys immune defence, making an individual more susceptible to respiratory infections such as pneumonia., Editor Online: Sahina Shrestha | Executive Editor: Sonia Awale The environment of the industrial areas should be properly managed by the industries and concerned agencies. In addition, vehicles passing over broken or traveled road release huge amounts of dust particles into the air, worsening air pollution further. Every year, 35,000 people in Nepal die from illnesses related to air contaminants. 2022: Emergency mode for the environment - UNEP Last modified on Fri 3 Mar 2023 20.17 EST. For example, an EIA for a major highway would need . climbed to hazardous levels, forcing millions of students to stay home across the country. At this level of air quality, it is better that active children and adults, and people with respiratory disease, such as asthma, avoid prolonged outdoor exertion; everyone else, especially children, should limit prolonged outdoor exertion. News about Air Pollution, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times. The environment has been in a better condition. 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. We can develop our own action plan to combat air pollution and also introduce other measures like enforcing green stickers for vehicles, among many others.. Implication of Air Pollution on Health Effects in Nepal: Lessons from In Kathmandu, a struggle for water amid worsening floods All living being birds, animals, insects, plants and even human beings are victims of pollution. Kathmandu air pollution hits record high | Nepali Times Only a year ago, snow clad mountains shone brightly in the winter and we could see the mountains and hills clearly. Prices range from Rs10 to Rs10,500. The analysis, based on more than 100 recent peer-reviewed studies, detected over 120 unique PFAS compounds in these animals . The government, which has been engulfed in a crisis within the ruling party after Prime Minister K P Oli dissolved the Lower House and called for snap polls in April-May, seems to be too distracted to pay attention to the converging crises of Covid-19 and air pollution. 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. 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 . A breakdown of whats known, and whats not, about the incident and its aftermath. News from Indian environment including wildlife like tiger, lion, elephants. But poor air quality from as far as New Delhi cannot penetrate deep into Nepal.. People must stay safe indoors and not come out except for emergencies, the health ministry said. Thepolluter pays' principlewas introduced in1972 in order to address this issue. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency intends to update its water pollution rules for slaughterhouses for the first time in nearly 20 years, the agency . 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. On Wednesday, the daily average PM 2.5 level for the western city clocked around 200, which is deemed unhealthy. Letter to the editor of The Rising Nepal about the environmental We should work for the betterment of the environment because the nature has provided a lot to us and we shouldnt be disgraceful towards it. Benchmarks . Nifty-129.. NSE Gainer-Large Cap . Rivers, ponds and lakes should not be polluted because it affects animals and plants lives too. The EPI recently found Nepal to have the worst air pollution in the world. newspaper article on environmental pollution in nepal Department of Environment on January 5 had released a statement mentioning about the change in weather condition in the country and increasing level of pollution in Kathmandu valley. Health alert must be imposed on everyone as everybody is prone to experience more serious health effects. Factors contributing to this level of pollution are local, said Shankar Prasad Paudel, information officer with the Department of Environment. As women play a significant role in the management and use of energy sources for household cooking, they are disproportionately affected by indoor air pollution [7]. Nepal, with a population of 30 million people, is located in the Himalayas between China and India, two of the world's biggest polluters. That said, old diesel vehicles are contributing significantly to the poor air quality in the city. Similarly, a University of Massachusetts study found that the good old surgical mask blocked 60% of 0.03 micron particles, and over 90% of 1 micron and 2.5 micron particles. Independent lab testing finds elevated level of chemical of concern in The government should really take a closer look at what their decision might lead the environment and the whole country to in the future. But public outrage does not seem to translate into action to clean up the air. Thanking you. Taking action to tackle the pollution in Nepal We need to be extra careful because by the time we reach peak pollution levels, we will be gearing up to launch Visit Nepal 2020, said Tuladhar. Yet, 2022 could prove to be a seminal year for the environment, with . Similarly, household air pollution (HAP) was over 18-folds higherduring our survey in 2007 than the WHO recommended guidelines . This can significantly affect the local environment and the health of people living nearby. All news about Environment pollution | Euronews , Change the direct speech to indirect speech; She said, "I am going to London today". We know what we're looking at when brown haze settles over a city, exhaust billows across a busy highway, or a plume rises from a smokestack. Thereportsays that 100% of the population in India lives in areas where PM2.5 levels are higher than the WHO Air Quality Guideline. The Biden Administration will make $250 million in grants available to develop strategies to cut climate pollution, the Environmental Protection Agency announced Wednesday. The agency, along with local and . 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 ). These two are just representative examples of millions of people who are directly or indirectly affected by dust, a burning issue of the twenty first century. Air pollution hits alarming levels in Nepal, schools closed How to clean up Kathmandus air, Anil Chitrakar, Poisoning the air we breathe, Sonia Awale. This trend is increasing rapidly and it is estimated that urban population will reach 60 million by 2040 [ 32 ]. Environment News, Earth News, Global Warming, Wild Life, Carbon Trading Arjun Khadka, 65, who owns a grocery store in Kathmandu, said he experienced itching and burning sensations in the eyes and nose which could be due to pollution. The guidelines recommend new air quality levels to protect the health of populations, by reducing levels of key air pollutants, some of which . The high mountains around the Kathmandu valley allows air pollution to accumulate in the city. On hand was Marcia Bernicat of the US Bureau of Oceans and International Environment and Scientific Affairs. Geyh-Bouwer Trainee Practice Award | Johns Hopkins | Bloomberg School AQI is a composite measurement of the concentration of particulate matter below 10 and 2.5 microns, carbon monoxide, sulphur and nitrogen dioxide and ground ozone. In 2000 / 2001 there were 24,003 vehicles registered in Kathmandu and this has increased dramatically to 79,822 in 2015 / 2016. This is a very great decision taken by the government. There will be very less production of crops and the economy of the whole country can go downhill by this negative decision made by the government. Minnesota moves to crack down on catalytic converter thefts | AP News 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. We all have been well aware about the problem of environmental pollution which has been very petrifying to the living beings. The level between 401 and 500 is very hazardous. Motorcycles and passenger vehicles such as jeeps, cars and vansaccountedfor 92 percentof total registered vehicles in Bagmatiby the end of 2014-15. The visibility in Kathmandu valley has degraded to a significant level. Nepal Air Quality Index (AQI) and Air Pollution information | IQAir The major effect of air pollution can be mainly observed in the cities such as Kathmandu, Biratnagar, Birgunj, Nepalgunj, and Lumbini. "And it wasn't just the . 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. Besides the quantity of fuel consumption, the poor road conditionof older vehicles istriggeringair quality problems in the valley. A general view of a street during a smoggy day as the government has orderedschoolsto close for four days after the air pollution climbed to hazardous levels, forcing millions of students to stay home across the country, in Kathmandu, Nepal March 30, 2021.
