No bigger cause

Cutting air pollution that leads to suffering and deaths should be the new government's top priority.

A thick haze has enveloped most parts of Nepal for a week now, with no relief in sight until the country receives ample rainfall. Over the past few years, during the winter and pre-monsoon seasons, Kathmandu is often ranked the world’s most polluted city. With an Air Quality Index of 184, Kathmanduites suffered the same fate this Sunday as well. But the air pollution stretches well beyond the federal capital. As of Thursday afternoon, Dhangadi, a sub-metropolitan city in Sudurpaschim Province, had the most polluted air in the country with an AQI of 272, which is considered ‘very unhealthy’, according to IQAir, the Swiss air quality technology company. Overall, the air pollution level in Nepal is currently much higher—8.6 times—than what the World Health Organisation considers safe (10 micrograms per cubic metre) for human health.