Elephant in the room

Before blaming other countries for foul air, we in Nepal should look to clean up our own act.

Long gone are the smog-free winter days. As soon as the temperatures dip, the bowl-shaped topography of Kathmandu Valley traps pollutants in the atmosphere, making its air one of the most toxic in the world. The problem is not limited to the federal capital and its periphery though, as other cities and districts in the country also fare poorly in this regard. All of Nepal’s 30.7 million people now live in areas where the annual average particulate pollution level exceeds the WHO guideline of 5 micrograms per cubic metre. This has cut the life expectancy of Nepalis by nearly five years, as reported by the Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) issued by the Energy Policy Institute of the University of Chicago.