ADB_book_18 April.qxp - Himalayan Document Centre - icimod

is a seasonal dust storm. Anthropogenic activitieshave been largely responsible for changing the airquality in urban areas. The major sources of suchpollution in Nepal are vehicle and industrialemissions, and combustion of biomass and fossilfuels. Anthropogenic activities have added largeamounts of macro and micro-pollutants to theatmosphere, triggering an environmental problem.Exposure to air pollution has become aninescapable part of urban life. Millions of people inurban centers are confronted with environmentaland health problems owing to harmful emissionscaused mainly by motor vehicles. Given the rate atwhich cities are growing and the paucity of pollutioncontrol measures, air quality will continue todeteriorate.Many studies over the last decade(MOPE/UNEP/ICIMOD 2000; CBS 1994; MOPE 1998;Pokharel 1998; Kunwar 1999; NESS 1999) haveshown that ambient air in the Kathmandu Valley isheavily polluted and not in accordance withinternational standards, and that the air quality isdeteriorating. This development has mainly beendue to a rapid rise in the number of petrol and dieselvehicles plying the streets. At the same time,continued emissions from the many brick kilns, thedyeing industry, and other industries are alsoimportant contributors.Until recently, monitoring in Kathmandu Valleywas sporadic, and it was rare to have continuousseries of 24 hour per day measurements. Realizingthe need for continuous air quality monitoring, theGovernment and the Danish InternationalDevelopment Agency (DANIDA) agreed in March2001 to formally initiate air quality management ofKathmandu Valley as the fifth component of theEnvironment Sector Programme Support (ESPS).Monitoring stations are strategically located at sixplaces in the Valley (Figure 7.1). The pollutantsmeasured are total suspended particles (TSP) andparticulate matter of 10 micrometers (μm) or less indiameter (PM10). Currently, PM2.5 (at some stationsonly), nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ), and benzene are alsomonitored on a regular basis. Analysis of the ESPSdata (MOPE 2004) indicates that the major problemis a high level of suspended particulate mattertogether with increasing levels of NO 2 and sulfurdioxide (SO 2 ).Figure 7.1: Environment Sector Program Support (ESPS) Monitoring Stations1. Putalisadak (Urban Traffic); 2. Thamel (Urban Traffic, Residential); 3. Patan (Urban Traffic); 4. Bhaktapur (Urban Background); 5. Kirtipur(Urban Background); 6. Matsyagoan (Valley Background)Source: MOEST (undated)82 Environment Assessment of Nepal : Emerging Issues and Challenges