Air Quality Improves in Kathmandu Valley Following Rainfall

Kathmandu. Air pollution in Kathmandu Valley and other major cities has started to decrease over the past few days. Data from the Air Quality Index (AQI) shows that while the AQI was around 178 until Thursday noon, it stood at 149 by noon today.

Kathmandu, which was listed as the second most polluted city in the world until Thursday noon, has dropped to the twelfth position at the same time today. Air pollution had increased in recent days due to hazy weather.

Gyanraj Subedi, Director General of the Department of Environment, informed that air pollution has also decreased today due to the rainfall on Thursday.

"Rainfall helps in bringing down the dust and particles in the air to the ground, and the wind carries away the dust and pollution particles, thus reducing pollution," he said, adding, "We have advised the concerned bodies to effectively implement sustainable and environmentally friendly development measures."

Environmentalist Bhushan Tuladhar suggested the necessity of timely preparation, management of waste, control of wildfires, and strict enforcement of vehicle emission testing and standards.

Meteorologist Sanjeev Adhikari from the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology informed that the weather has improved since Thursday and the rainfall has helped in clearing the pollution from the air. According to him, in the last 24 hours, the highest rainfall was recorded at 126.2 millimeters at the weather measurement center at Narayani Field Office in Chitwan, Bagmati Province.

Similarly, 102.2 millimeters of rain was recorded at the Lamjung Gharedhunga center in Gandaki Province, and 90 millimeters at the Gorkha Barpak center. Furthermore, 98.4 millimeters of rain was recorded in Udayapur Katari in Koshi Province, and 96.4 millimeters at the Chandragadhi Airport center in Jhapa.

According to the AQI standards, 0 to 50 is considered 'Good', while 51 to 100 falls into the 'Moderate' category requiring caution. 101 to 150 is considered 'Unhealthy', which can affect people, especially those with respiratory and heart conditions. 151 to 200 is 'Unhealthy for All', 201 to 300 is 'Very Unhealthy', and above 300 is considered 'Hazardous'. RSS