Editorial»
Look in the mirror: Reality bites
DEC 26 - He did it again. Kathmandu’s gaffeprone Mayor Keshav Sthapit made
another faux pass this week when he said that he would sue the World Bank for slandering the image of his swachha, safa, haravara (clean, green and healthy) city. Last Thursday, WB released a report on air quality in Asian cities, which suggested that Kathmandu now tops a list of 17 Asian cities with the dirtiest air — followed by New Delhi, and Jakarta and Chongqing, China’s second largest city.
Granted, such negative publicity could be detrimental for a tourism-dependent economy. In the worst case scenario, it could force more foreign visitors to bypass Kathmandu, a must-visit destination on the ‘Hippie trial’. But when one’s hometown hits the spotlight for all the wrong reasons, a responsible leader or a citizen becomes alarmed, not infuriated. When someone makes harsh comments about your appearance, chances are that you would look in the mirror and, depending on how you look, you might take a shower and, if need be, change your clothes.
Mayor Sthapit and all the others who are in a mood to avenge the city’s negative publicity need to do just that. Look in the mirror, that is. Climb up the Swayambhu hill one of these days and look around as you circumambulate the ancient stupa: the valley of well over 1.5 million people is choking inside a thick layer of visibly dirty air. It is not the wintry fog or haze. Rather, it is the layer of dust particles and poisonous emissions like carbon monoxide and benzene—a by-product of the kerosene-mixed petrol or diesel, which could cause cancer.
Experts closely monitoring the valley’s air quality say carbon monoxide levels in the city’s major thoroughfares are five times higher now than they were 10 years ago. There’s more area with suspended particulate concentrations of 75 micrograms per cubic metre today than ever before. Brick kilns, which are responsible for more than 80 percent of the total suspended particulate, continue to thrive and prosper on the town(s)’ outskirts. The number of vehicles is continually going up. Condition of the roads continues to degrade from bad to worse.
And petroleum adulteration is so rampant that half the diesel and 40 percent of the petrol sold in the city’s petrol stations have kerosene mixed with it, according to a Himal media investigation. Experts say the benzene in the city’s air comes from the emissions from such kerosene-mixed diesel and petrol. (Kerosene is cheaper in the market because it has been subsided to power the ovens and houses of the rural poor.) The city is literally gasping for clean air.
It’s been a long time since the dirt in the air started damaging the valley’s visibility. Thanks to the poor visibility, the panorama of the Himalayas is invisible from the valley. Equally affected are the movements of flights into and out of the Tribhuvan International Airport. Back in 1970, the number of days per month with visibility more than eight km at noon in Kathmandu would be 22. Now that has gone down to 2.
Even so, nothing happens. The problem persists. Lackadaisical attitude continues to plague the Singha Durbar officialdom even as hundreds of thousands denizens of the city suffer from respiratory diseases. Consider this: a WB study in 1996 estimated the cost of pollution on public health at Rs 200 million per year. Add to it the long-term impact on tourism and ecology.
However worse the situation may have turned, it is never too late. Things can improve. Examples abound in the neighbourhood. New Delhi looks much more cleaner – and greener – today than it was three years ago. In Bangkok, according to last week’s WB report, the visibility at the city’s airport has improved from about five kilometres in 1996 to nine kilometres in 2000. Even in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, the phase-out of two-stroke engines helped slash concentrations of fine, airborne particulate matter by up to 41 percent.
If dirty skies change colours in the neighbourhood, that can happen in Kathmandu, too. All we need is an accountable, serious and sincere government that cares about the people, and a responsible civil society. The judiciary has already played its part: earlier this year, the Supreme Court ordered a ban on all vehicles 20 years old within two years. And now efforts are underway to ban three-wheelers with two-stroke engines. But much more needs to be done to turn things around.
Rather than spending time, money and energy on filing lawsuits in international courts, Mayor Sthapit, policymakers and citizens alike could spend their time and energy on regrouping and waging a war against pollution. That will be in the best interest of the capital, nation and, more importantly, health of our seniors, our youths and our children.Posted on: 2003-12-27 04:56
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