Kathmandu was listed as the second most polluted city in the world until Thursday noon, but has dropped to twelfth place at the same time today.
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Air pollution has started to decrease in the Kathmandu Valley and other major cities in the past few days. The Air Quality Index (AQI) data showed that the air quality index (AQI) remained at 149 till noon today, while the pollution level was around 178 till midday on Thursday.
Kathmandu was listed as the second most polluted city in the world till midday on Thursday, but it has dropped to 12th place today at the same time. Air pollution had increased as the weather deteriorated for the past few days.
Gyanraj Subedi, Director General of the Department of Environment, informed that air pollution has also decreased today due to the rain that occurred on Thursday.
'Rain helps in bringing dust and particles in the air to the ground, and pollution is reduced when the wind picks up dust and pollution particles,' he said. 'We have suggested to the concerned bodies to effectively implement sustainable and environment-friendly development measures.'
Environmentalist Bhushan Tuladhar suggested that timely preparation, management of leaf litter, fire control, and vehicle smoke testing and strict implementation of standards are necessary.
Meteorologist Sanjeev Adhikari of the Department of Water and Meteorology informed that the weather has improved since Thursday and that the rain has helped remove pollution in the air. According to him, the highest rainfall in the past 24 hours was measured at the weather measurement center at the Narayani Field Office in Chitwan, Bagmati Province, at 126.2 millimeters.
Similarly, 102.2 millimeters of rainfall was measured at the Lamjung Gharedhunga center in Gandaki Province and 90 millimeters of rainfall was measured at the Barpak center in Gorkha. In addition, 98.4 millimeters of rainfall was measured at Udayapur Katari in Koshi Province and 96.4 millimeters at the Chandragadhi Airport center in Jhapa.
According to the AQI criteria, 0 to 50 is considered ‘good’, while 51 to 100 is in the ‘be alert’ category. 101 to 150 is considered ‘unhealthy’, which can especially affect respiratory and heart patients.
151 to 200 is considered ‘unhealthy for everyone’, 201 to 300 is considered ‘very unhealthy’, and above 300 is considered ‘extremely dangerous’.
