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Pollution rises with increasing cold
KATHMANDU, JAN 07 - The air in the Putalisadak area on December 31 was "very unhealthy" as it contained fine dust particles three times higher than the national safe limit, according to the Ministry of Population and Environment (MoPE).
According to the weekly pollution reports released today by MoPE, the downtown Putalisadak area had air pollution, resulting from fine dust particles, called PM10, much higher than PM10’s safe limit in the rest of the days in the last week (28 December to 3 January).
According to the national safe limit, PM10 crossing 120 microgram per cubic metre is considered harmful to human health. On December 31, the Putalisadka area air contained 360 micrograms per cubic metre.
PM10 is the major pollutant in the atmosphere of the Kathmandu valley. Other air pollutants are not problematic to Kathmandu’s air, their level being much below the national safe limits. PM10 is very harmful to human health as it remains suspended for a long period and is easily inhaled into human lungs. A number of diseases are linked to the pollutant.
The air in the week was better in the Patan area compared to the air of the Putalisadak area. The air there contained PM10 nearly two times higher than the pollutant’s safe limit.
Last week, the level of PM10 concentration in the Bhaktapur and Thamel areas was nearly two times higher than the safe limit.
The air quality monitoring stations at Patan, Bhaktapur and Thamel have shown that the air quality was unhealthy during the week and is very close to an unhealthy level.
However, the air in the fringe areas of the Kathmandu valley, like Kirtipur and Matsyagaon, are still safe for inhalation.
Surprisingly, the six pollution monitoring stations recorded the level of PM10 less on December 28, though the registrations were not within the safe limit, since the valley received rain on that day. The reason was that rain settles down the concentration of fine dust particles.Posted on: 2004-01-08 03:25
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