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Winter creeping in, pollution going up
KATHMANDU, OCT 29 - With winter beginning to affect valley life, air pollution resulting from fine solid particles has started increasing. Even those places in the valley, which had witnessed "very good" air quality standard during the recent monsoon, are now showing that air quality is gradually deteriorating. The most polluted places of the valley like the Putalisadak and Patan areas have begun to see pollution level soaring.
The quality of air in Thamel has now reached to the unhealthy category, according to the weekly valley air quality monitoring results published here today by the Ministry of Population and Environment (MoPE). This is the first time that Thamel’s air quality has deteriorated since the beginning of this year’s monsoon on June 16.Similarly, the places like Bhaktapur, Kirtipur and Matsyagaon, which
had seen considerable improvement in air quality during the monsoon
that ended a month ago, has begun
to see air-pollution levels gradually climbing, according to the results. The level of fine particles with diameter less or equal to 10 micrometer, known as PM10, has now gone up to a moderate level from "very good" level during the monsoon.
According to the results, the Putalisadak and Patan areas now have air quality standard deteriorated beyond the national air quality standard. These places are the most polluted ones in the valley as far as their air quality standard is concerned.
The air quality monitoring station at the Thamel area, which has a residential background, recorded an average of 138 microgram per cubic meter PM10 in the last week (October 19-25), which is much above the national standard. According to the national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS), PM10, the major pollutant in the valley air, should not cross an average of 120 microgram per cubic meter in a week. Anything exceeding this standard is harmful to human health. The place had witnessed the level of the pollutant as low as 60 microgram per cubic meter weekly average during the monsoon. The average of the place in the previous week (October 12-18) was 116 microgram per cubic meter.
Other places like Kirtipur, Matsyagaon and Bhaktapur are now witnessing the level of PM10 going up slowly. These places had very low levels of fine particles in the air during monsoon. For instance, Matsyagaon, the least polluted place in the valley, had no fine particles in the air at all at some time during the monsoon season, now has PM10 level on a weekly average of 44 microgram per cubic meter. Even the previous week, the air quality monitoring station at the place had recorded the level of PM10 on an average of 35 microgram per cubic meter.
The air in the Putalisadak and Patan areas during the last week contained an average of 180 and 141 micrograms per cubic meter of PM10 respectively, much above the NAAQS for the pollutant. The air at the places had PM10 at 147 and 130 microgram per cubic meter respectively in the previous week.
"The rains in monsoon used to settle fine particles, so the level of PM10 in the air of valley had decreased. But now we have dry season at hand with increasing cold, the level of PM10 is going up in the valley," said Chiranjivi Gautam, advisor Urban Environment and Air Quality Management at the MoPE.Posted on: 2003-10-28 09:04
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