Air pollution level of the valley falls with rainfall but still remains ‘unhealthy’

KATHMANDU : The thick smog that blanketed the Kathmandu Valley for almost a week is now cleared following the rainfalls starting Wednesday. The level of air pollution has also decreased even though the air quality still remains ‘unhealthy’ for breathing.

The air quality index (AQI) that had exceeded 400 earlier at Bhaisepati in the capital was recorded 160 on average on Thursday.

The air quality index (AQI) between 150 and 200 is considered harmful for breathing.

The Kathmandu Valley received 9.8 mm rainfall on Wednesday which resulted in slight improvement in the air quality in Kathmandu Valley. Likewise, the visibility of Valley’s atmosphere was measured at 7 KM on Thursday which was only 1 KM a few days ago, according to the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology. “However, the smog in the lower atmosphere of the Valley will be cleared anytime soon,” added the Department.

“It is very unlikely to witness a heavy rainfall for a few more days in the valley. So it will take a few more days to see total improvement in the weather,” said one of the officials in the department.

Meanwhile, the environmentalists have stressed on the need to take immediate and effective actions to control wildfire in the country. Districts like Makwanpur, Chitwan, Parsa, Nuwakot and other districts in terai region witnessed numerous wildfires recently due to which almost the entire nation was blanketed with hazardous haze for several days.

The government had closed schools and colleges for four days starting Tuesday following the rise in pollution level in the country and asked the general public in the valley to venture outside only in the case of emergencies.

According to the Air Visual, an organization based in Switzerland that collects and processes air quality data, Kathmandu ranked seventh out of almost 100 cities in the world in terms of poor air quality and polluted cities on Thursday afternoon. Last week, Kathmandu was on the top in the list.

Likewise, according to a report of ‘State of Global Air-2020’ as many as 42,100 people have died of air pollution in Nepal in 2019.