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Until a few years ago, winter days in major cities across Nepal, including the Kathmandu Valley, were characterized by hazardous air quality, posing significant health risks to the public.

On January 4, 2021, the Department of Environment issued an alert to the public regarding the perilous air quality in Kathmandu Valley and other major cities, urging them to take preventive measures when outdoors.

Now, here is good news for us: air quality has relatively enhanced in recent years. According to Deepak Gyawali, the Department's information officer, although air pollution significantly increased in 2021, it has been gradually decreasing since then.

Major contributors to air pollution include carbon emissions from motor vehicles, dust particles released during road repair and construction and other construction works, emissions from industries and brick kilns, poor waste management practices, and forest fires.

Similarly, using firewood as a cooking fuel in rural areas contributes significantly to indoor air pollution. Moreover, increasing development activities in India and the burning of agricultural residues near the border towns and settlements exacerbate air pollution issues in Nepal.

According to Gyawali, the occurrence of rains and wind during peak pollution seasons, as well as the dry season, significantly contributes to mitigating air pollution.

Furthermore, the decrease in infrastructure development activities following an economic slowdown is speculated to have contributed to the improvement in air quality, although this hypothesis requires further study for confirmation.

Similarly, the use of electric vehicles and electric cookstoves has increased. The brick factories, which are one of the sources of air pollution, have also installed new technology. On the other hand, only around 50 percent of these factories are operating due to the economic slump.

Shankar Bahadur Chand, President of Nepal Brick Factory Federation, said the market for brick has reduced by 80 percent at present. "Only 40-50 percent of all the brick kilns are in operation these days, and that also not in their full capacity. Out of the 1,100 brick factories across the country, only about 500 are in operation at present," he said. He further added that it is difficult to re-operate a brick factory once it is closed down.

Kathmandu's air quality below standard

However, the air quality in some big cities, including in Kathmandu, is lower than the WHO standard.

The air quality from 0-50 in the Air Quality Index (AQI) is considered good for health. AQI 50-100 is considered average while AQI above this indicates an unhealthy atmosphere.

The AQI in Kathmandu today (Thursday) is 160 on average. Therefore, experts have pointed out that a lot of work has to be done to improve the quality of air in Kathmandu Valley.

The possibility of air pollution resulting from wildfires is always there in Nepal. Dust particles and the smoke, carbon, chemicals and various gasses emitted from factories and industries and incidences of fires are mixed in the air due to heightened pollution.

Toxic gasses like sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide that are produced when burning fossil fuels damage human health as well as contribute to the global temperature rise.

The government has established Air Quality Monitoring Stations at 27 different places in the country to measure the air quality. Preparation was underway to set up air quality monitoring stations at three more places in the current fiscal year. Air becomes most polluted between 7:00 am-8:00 am. 

Program Director of Environment and Public Health Organization (ENPHO), Rajendra Shrestha, said opinions regarding improvement in air quality should be verified.

Accepting that sources of air pollution have decreased and people have become aware, he shared, "Air pollution might have decreased due to reduction in factories, increase in use of electric vehicles and stoves, decrease in development construction activities, operation of brick kilns and road upgrading."

Three major reasons behind the death of the people in Nepal are disease related to heart, liver and brain hemorrhage. These three types of disease also have a connection with air pollution. Cases of diseases mainly related with respiratory problems are found to have increased due to air pollution.

As per the World Health Organization, around seven million people in the world die untimely every year due to air pollution. It is said that around 40,000 people lose their lives in Nepal every year from it. 

Air pollution has been making negative impacts on the overall environment not only on human beings. Therefore, partnership was necessary among all stakeholders to control air pollution.

The District Administration Office, Bhaktapur held a discussion with concerned agencies and stakeholders to manage the Bisket Jatra.

A multi-stakeholder meeting held under the coordination of Chief District Officer (CDO) Roshani Kumari Shrestha took various decisions for the proper management of Bisket Jatra.

The meeting was attended by police, government office chiefs, representatives from Guthi Sansthan, procession operators, political leaders, local clubs and stakeholders.

The Metropolitan Police Range has decided to completely shut the liquor shops during the procession period.

Chief District Officer Shrestha said CCTV cameras have been installed along the main roads and intersections where the Jatra is being held.

He warned that stern action will be taken against those disrupting the Jatra.

The District Administration Office, Bhaktapur and District Police Range, Bhaktapur will be responsible for maintaining peace and security in the city area during the period.

The Guthi Sansthan Branch Office, Bhaktapur will make necessary preparations to start and complete all the pujas and jatra related to Bisket Jatra on time.

Arrangements have been made to manage the cables, wires and fiber net cables in the Jatra route areas of the city and ambulances, fire engines and disaster preparedness equipment will be kept ready in all the hospitals of the city under the aegis of Nepal Red Cross Society, Bhaktapur.

The Nepal Scouts will mobilize volunteers in crowded areas on April 12, 13 and 17.

Two new cases of Kala-azar have been found in Jhapa, a district in the Terai region of Koshi Province. Similar cases have been reported in previous years as well.

The Health Office in Jhapa has confirmed that the infections were reported in Birtamod Municipality-5 and Shibashatakshi Municipality.

Following illness, the people visited the Dharan-based BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences and were diagnosed with the infections. Both the infected are males.

The Public Health Office, Jhapa is currently undertaking efforts to raise public awareness about Kala-azar and its prevention measures, while also actively searching for potential cases.

These efforts are being carried out in collaboration with local representatives, women's health volunteers, and other relevant stakeholders. Kala-azar (black fever) can be fatal if left untreated.

Kala-azar is a parasitic disease transmitted through the bite of infected female sandflies.

Nepal’s tourism industry is back on track if foreign tourist arrival figures over the first three months of 2024 are anything to go by.

Foreign tourist arrivals via air recorded a year-on-year growth of 33.78 percent in the first three months of 2024. Tourist arrival data released by the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) shows a total of 304,693 foreign tourists have entered the country till March this year, compared to 227,755 in the same period of 2023. Over the past few months, the tourism sector is playing a vital role in the tourism recovery. A report published by the World Bank on April 2 states that the services sector emerged as a primary driver of this growth on the supply side, buoyed by increased activity in tourism-related services.

A total of 128,167 foreign tourists arrived in Nepal in March this year, compared to 99,427 in March last year. This is higher than the pre-covid footfall for the month. Nepal had welcomed 127,351 in March 2019. However, the total arrival in the first three months of 2024 is still lower than the total arrivals in the first three months of 2019 when Nepal welcomed 311,047 foreign tourists.

Nepal welcomed 1,197,191 foreign tourists in 2019 which has remained the best year for the industry so far. Arrival numbers fell to 230,085 in 2020 and further to 150,962 in 2021. It improved to 614,869 in 2022 and rebounded to 1,014,876 in 2023. Arrival figures over the first three months suggest that Nepal is on track to beat the 2019 numbers this year. March marks the beginning of the spring tourism season which is considered the best for trekking and mountaineering. The spring season sees a lion’s share of mountaineering expeditions coming to Nepal. Most of the expeditions on Mt Everest, the tallest peak on earth, are organized in this season.

According to tourism entrepreneurs, tourist numbers will continue to increase till May which marks the end of the climbing season and the beginning of monsoon rains. While tourist numbers dip during the three months of June, July, and August, it starts picking up once the autumn season begins in September. The autumn season continues through December. 

As usual, India was the largest source market for Nepal in March, with 30,698 visitors. It was a year-on-year growth of 18.5 percent. The number of Chinese tourists also increased considerably to 12,093—a growth of a staggering 358 percent. The US came third with 10,763 visitors, followed by the UK with 7,241 tourists, Sri Lanka with 5,741 visitors, and Germany with 5,255 footfalls. Likewise, Thailand, Myanmar, France, and Australia were among the top 10 countries in terms of visitor numbers. Region-wise, Asia (SAARC) contributed the highest number of visitors in March, accounting for 31.8 percent of total arrivals. 

Similarly, Asia was next, contributing 22.4 percent of total arrivals, followed by Europe (21.5 percent), Oceania (4.8 percent), the Americas (9.8 percent), and Others (9.7 percent). Tourism entrepreneurs say the tourist arrivals would be much higher once the new international airports in Lumbini and Pokhara start handling international flights.