The winter air pollution season started early this year with emissions, Diwali firecrackers and crop residue burning making the air unbreathable across north India. Much of the pollution was transboundary, with prevailing winds carrying the suspended particulates from Pakistan, across India to Nepal and beyond. All this pollution and domestic emissions killed 41,300 in Nepal in 2023, and 85% of all deaths were because of noncommunicable diseases such as heart and lung disease, lung cancer, diabetes, and dementia, according to the State of Global Air (SoGA) 2025 report released Thursday. With the onset of winter, Kathmandu Valley’s own emissions are trapped in a surface inversion layer and as in previous years will have some of the worst air quality in the world.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251023131016_7c42a4e8b0dce01dfeeaaf89dbb10dbfa036b41163f3ebada88c7ce17dbded49.png" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20251023131016_7c42a4e8b0dce01dfeeaaf89dbb10dbfa036b41163f3ebada88c7ce17dbded49" data-rendition-name="original" width="921" height="850" loading="lazy" alt="Air pollution killing season starts early NT"> </figure>  The SoGa report says air pollution has now become the leading risk factor for deaths in Nepal, ahead of tobacco and high blood pressure. Interestingly, while the health impacts due to environmental risk factors such as unsafe water and sanitation have reduced significantly since 2000, the opposite is true for ambient PM2.5 (particles smaller than 2.5 microns). Globally, 7.9 million deaths were attributable to air pollution– about 1 in 8 deaths – in 2023. Of this total, 4.9 million deaths were attributable to PM2.5 exposure, 2.8 million were from household air pollution, and 470,000 were from ozone. Similarly, dementia attributable to air pollution resulted in 626,000 deaths and 40 million healthy years of life lost. And 95% of air pollution attributable deaths in adults over the age of 60 are due to noncommunicable diseases. The burden of noncommunicable diseases in relation to air pollution is rising worldwide and in Nepal. The SoGA report shows that nearly nine of ten global air pollution deaths are from chronic ailments, and half of all respiratory disease deaths are attributable to air pollution.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251023131020_8577f464b4a73007de5dd018b8ac91dae3a9c732dbb81a44b6aa5a0ced7df3df.png" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20251023131020_8577f464b4a73007de5dd018b8ac91dae3a9c732dbb81a44b6aa5a0ced7df3df" data-rendition-name="original" width="1080" height="1080" loading="lazy" alt="Air pollution killing season starts early NT"> </figure>  In Nepal, air pollution is responsible for three out of four COPD deaths, one out of three heart deaths and one out of five diabetes deaths. More than one third of lower respiratory infection deaths were due to air pollution. “The data presented in the State of Global Air report highlight the significant impacts of poor air quality on the health and well-being of billions of people around the world, especially those living in Asia and Africa,” says Pallavi Pant of the Boston-based Health Effects Institute (HEI) that released the report in collaboration with the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation and the NCD Alliance. She adds: “Growing momentum on air quality management across those hard-hit locations, including expansion of air quality monitoring, adoption of air quality regulations, and sector-specific interventions are yielding improvements for those most impacted.” Low- and middle-income countries stand to gain most by reducing air pollution, with particularly strong impacts on children, older populations, and people with pre-existing health conditions. Indeed, of the 41,300 air pollution deaths in 2023 in Nepal, 31,600 were in adults over the age of 60 years and 3,500 in children below five years. Death rate for air pollution in Nepal, which is 178 per 100,000, is more than 10 times higher than high-income countries, which is at 17 per 100,000.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251023131020_604e852aed4ffde0dc7d1df72fcd3e73d904136dfb1bb2407e53b7445f3ef72c.png" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20251023131020_604e852aed4ffde0dc7d1df72fcd3e73d904136dfb1bb2407e53b7445f3ef72c" data-rendition-name="original" width="1078" height="423" loading="lazy" alt="Air pollution killing season starts early NT"> </figure>  “Win-win solutions for air pollution and NCDs exist, with added benefits for climate, physical activity, nutrition, and many other global development priorities,” says Alison Cox, Policy and Advocacy Director at the Geneva-based NCD Alliance. “These policies are effective and deliver a strong return on investment - for the sake of our people and the planet we need to implement them faster.” Fine particle pollution (ambient PM2.5) is the largest driver of air pollution’s burden of disease worldwide as kit attributed to 4.9 million deaths and 124 million healthy years of life lost in 2023. Vehicles, power plants, factories, and homes, as well as agricultural and industrial activities, waste burning and wildfires are some of the biggest sources of pollutants. South Asia is among the regions of the world with the highest exposures to ambient PM2.5 , while more than 36% of people around the world live in areas where PM2.5 levels do not meet even the least stringent interim target. As per the report, 78% of Nepal’s 30 million population lives in areas where annual PM2.5 exposure exceeds the least stringent WHO Air Quality Interim Target of 35 µg/m3. Meanwhile, exposure to household air pollution due to the use of solid fuels for cooking remains an important driver for the disease burden in the country. “Ongoing efforts to meet global development goals are not achievable without directly addressing air pollution,” says Maria Neira, Commissioner of Our Common Air. “Countries and cities must focus their efforts toward reducing air pollution emissions, including household air pollution, which has particularly severe impacts on young children and older people across Asia and Africa.”

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Air pollution killing season starts early

On a recent morning students at Darbar High School in the centre of Kathmandu were gathering for morning assembly. Excited chatter rose above the din of traffic outside the school gate.&nbsp; Nearby, pollution monitoring equipment found the concentration of suspended particulate matter smaller than 2.5 microns (PM2.5) in the school that morning at 211µg/m3. Inside classrooms, the monitor read 126µg/m3 on average all day. &nbsp; “I get at least three pupils every day with lung problems, it is worse in winter,” says Bhavna Ojha Joshi, a nurse at the school infirmary. <div class="embed-block"><iframe src="https://school-circle-eng.netlify.app/" style="border:0px #ffffff none;" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" marginheight="0px" marginwidth="0px" height="850px"width=100%></iframe></div> Nepal’s National Ambient Air Quality Standard considers PM2.5 concentration of 40µg/m3 in 24 hours as ‘healthy’. But the World Health Organization says it must not exceed 15µg/m3 , and says anything over this is unsafe. At the adjacent Ratna Park measuring station, the Air Quality Index (AQI) that morning was 179µg/m3 . Darbar High School is 123 years old, and collapsed in the 2015 earthquake. It has been rebuilt and is located at the busiest intersection in the city centre. All day long, students here breathe poisonous air that affects their health, learning ability, and physical and mental growth. Six km away at the northwest corner of the Ring Road, students are also gathering for morning assembly at the Shree Kali Devi Secondary School. The PM2.5 concentration there measured 89µg/m3, and it dropped to 35µg/m3 during the course of the day since vehicular emission is blown away by afternoon breeze from the west. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240605070632_a7ca0bc091c99dfc5fcbeaed2f29ba7ed7d99a3e9828ad4890d17444e0dfcac0.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20240605070632_a7ca0bc091c99dfc5fcbeaed2f29ba7ed7d99a3e9828ad4890d17444e0dfcac0" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Air pollution in schools NT"> </figure>  It is not just diesel and petrol cars, smoke from wildfires burning out of control all over Nepal made Kathmandu the most polluted city in the world in the IQAir list for several days in a row in April. Kathmandu ranked 11th in a list of 114 capital cities with the worst air.&nbsp; Diesel exhaust, smoke and dust are visible, but suspended particles smaller than 2.5 microns are most dangerous since they can cross the blood-air barrier in the lungs. &nbsp; “The particles enter the bloodstream and affect vital organs,” says infectious disease specialist Anup Subedee. Toxic air is harmful to all, but especially for children and the elderly. Because their lungs, brain, &nbsp;organs, and immune systems are still developing, children have weaker immune systems and are &nbsp;more affected by air pollutants.&nbsp; <div class="embed-block"><iframe src="https://schools-box-dots-eng.netlify.app/" style="border:0px #ffffff none;" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" marginheight="0px" marginwidth="0px" height="500px"width=100%></iframe></div> Moreover, while people over 18 breathe up to 20 times a minute, younger ones breathe 30 times, absorbing more particles. Pollutants also cause allergic reactions in the respiratory tract, which change the structure of their airways, causing chronic asthma. &nbsp; “Continuous exposure to toxic air in children is not limited to colds, headaches and shortness of breath, but can extend to chronic heart and lung disease as well as cancer,” warns paediatrician Ganesh Kumar Rai, former director of Kanti Children’s Hospital.&nbsp; At Tarun Secondary School, 500m outside Balaju on Kathmandu’s Ring Road, the PM2.5 concentration was 155µg/m3 in the morning as fifth grader Pramisa Bardeva was walking to school along a dusty road. She has a chronic cough, and wears a flimsy mask. &nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240605070632_0c11d1ac6472d965eb55fd9277b96f812482ce850aa296f59c33450e42b0a3ee.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20240605070632_0c11d1ac6472d965eb55fd9277b96f812482ce850aa296f59c33450e42b0a3ee" data-rendition-name="original" width="1356" height="830" loading="lazy" alt="Air pollution in schools NT"> </figure>  “My daughter’s studies have suffered because she is sick so often,” says Pramisa’s mother Manju. “They say she is sick because of the dirty air, and the hospital bills are piling up.” There are some 650,000 school-going children in Kathmandu Valley, of which 362,000 are students below Grade Five. Kathmandu has 1.6 million vehicles of which 80% are motorcycles. Most of these ply within the Ring Road, which means nearly 200,000 of the youngest students are exposed to the worst pollution all day at school. In 2023, the Ratna Park monitoring station recorded that only 8% of days are ‘clean air’ days, mostly during the monsoon. Environmental scientist Uttam Babu Shrestha returned to Nepal with his family from Australia four years ago. His son, now seven, has chronic asthma. “Although we worried about his health, his respiratory issues worsened after we came back due to the pollution here,” says Shrestha. His son has to regularly use an inhaler. Paediatricians said that a quarter of the children they see have asthma, whereas 20 years ago the most common ailments used to be diarrhea or typhoid.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240605070632_cf0f13b67c446bb47f8cf039d4bd5a6cff509833011a2d242a0ac6d7f103ce39.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20240605070632_cf0f13b67c446bb47f8cf039d4bd5a6cff509833011a2d242a0ac6d7f103ce39" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Air pollution in schools NT"> </figure>  Data from Kanti Children’s Hospital shows that 38% of the 2,378 patients admitted in 2022-23 &nbsp;suffered from respiratory diseases. Another 2,951 children were treated in the pulmonary ward in that time. This year, nearly the same number of children had been in the pulmonary ward by February. &nbsp; Jagat Jeevan Ghimire, a physician at Kanti, specialises in children’s respiratory issues and estimates that one out of five children in Kathmandu Valley has a respiratory disease. Eight out of 12 ICU beds in the hospital are occupied by respiratory patients. Binod Sapkota’s three-year-old son Arogya suffers from asthma and has to use an inhaler up to four times a day. The asthma flares up when pollution levels are high. Physicians do not recommend mask use for children under five because it makes it difficult to tell if a child is having breathing issues. <div class="embed-block"><iframe src="https://schools-locator-eng.netlify.app/" style="border:0px #ffffff none;" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" marginheight="0px" marginwidth="0px" height="800px"width=100%></iframe></div> Air pollution kills more people than all other natural and manmade disasters in Nepal every year. Last year, an estimated 42,100 people died of respiratory issues. Toxic air cuts 4.6 years off the average Nepali’s lifespan, in the Tarai the figure is a shocking minus 7 years. Most physicians we spoke to said that the real culprit is the lack of political will in government to control emissions. Politicians seem not to have grasped the scale of this crisis, and that it is a life-or-death issue for so many Nepalis. &nbsp; Paediatrician Prashant Prasad Rijal notes how respiratory issues like pneumonia and asthma among children decreased during the Covid-imposed lockdowns, from up to four patients every day to four every month. “As soon as the pollution level dropped, the children were healthier,” he recalls. <div class="embed-block"><iframe src="https://schools-line-eng.netlify.app/" style="border:0px #ffffff none;" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" marginheight="0px" marginwidth="0px" height="750px"width=100%></iframe></div> The number of registered vehicles in Nepal has doubled over the last five years, while petroleum consumption has increased by 160% in the last decade. The major contributors to Kathmandu’s toxic air are vehicular and industrial emissions, brick kilns, development construction, crop and garbage burning, wildfires, and transboundary pollution. Studies show that emissions from substandard and old vehicles are the major cause of air pollution in Kathmandu. Vehicles need to pass an annual emission test, but only 30% of the total four wheelers took the test last year. &nbsp;Motorcycles do not need to undergo tests even if they emit poisonous gases. &nbsp; Garbage and agricultural waste burning is another contributor to toxic air in urban Nepal, even though it is prohibited by law. The National Statistics Office's 2022 study showed that 1 million tons of waste is produced annually in the country’s municipalities, of which 22,750 tons (2.2%) are incinerated. The National Agricultural Census 2022 found that 3 million tons of agricultural residue is burned every year, 90% of it in the Tarai. <div class="embed-block"><iframe title="No Day Free from Pollution" aria-label="Range Plot" id="datawrapper-chart-PhVXB" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/PhVXB/2/" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;" height="371" data-external="1"></iframe><script type="text/javascript">!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r=0;r<e.length;r++)if(e[r].contentWindow===a.source){var i=a.data["datawrapper-height"][t]+"px";e[r].style.height=i}}}))}(); </script></div> Pre-monsoon forest fires also make air pollution worse. NASA MODIS satellite recorded 4,114 wildfires during the first four months of 2024, double the previous years. The Cabinet four years ago formed the Kathmandu Valley Air Quality Management Action Plan to reduce vehicular emissions, stop waste burning, and use filters in diesel-powered vehicles. Nothing was done. The Ministry of Forests and Environment introduced standards to regulate brick kilns in 2018, but failed to monitor compliance.&nbsp; On 28 May, the finance minister increased taxes on petroleum products, but the money is not invested in reducing pollution or promoting clean energy. Electrification of public mass transport is the surest way to clean up Kathmandu air quickly, and reduce petroleum imports. But the new budget raised taxes on electric vehicles.&nbsp; Clean air is a Constitutional right of Nepalis, but Tek Bahadur Bogati, who moved to Kathmandu from Okhaldhunga, constantly worries about his son whose studies have suffered because of frequent hospitalisation which has drained the family’s savings.&nbsp; Says Bogati: “They told me it was due to dirty air, but where in Kathmandu is it clean?” This story was produced under an Earth Journalism Network (EJN) fellowship in collaboration with the Center for Data Journalism Nepal (CDJN).

Poisoning children at school

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131128/637234c69c7e80680e0c4951jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1272"/><figcaption>Photo: AMIT MACHAMASI/NEPALI TIMES ARCHIVE</figcaption></figure>Two studies published this week show that the air in Kathmandu is even more hazardous to health than previous research showed because of high concentrations of toxic gases, leading to premature deaths from lung diseases.Dirty air is reducing the lifespan of Nepalis by nearly 7 years in the Tarai, by 3 years in Kathmandu Valley, and Nepal has the highest lung disease death rate in the world, new research papers warn. Another study points to very high concentrations of poisonous nitrous oxides as well as tiny suspended particulates, due to the increase of vehicles in Kathmandu Valley.Released on 17 August, A State of Global Air Report 2022 zeroes in on two main urban pollutants in over 7,000 cities around the world — particles measuring 2.5μm or less (PM2.5), and nitrogen dioxide (NO2). While Kathmandu is surprisingly not on the list of top 20 most polluted cities, the study shows that the Valley has seen a dangerous increase in the concentration of both pollutants since 2000.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/things-are-up-in-the-air-in-nepal/">Things are up in the air in Nepal</a>, Sonia Awale<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131128/637234cc9c7e80680e0c4952jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>“Kathmandu does not feature among the cities with the highest PM2.5 levels, but average annual exposures to these dangerously small particles are higher than the WHO Air Quality Guidelines, and even the least stringent interim target of 35 µg/m3,” explains Pallavi Pant of Health Effects Institute which collaborated with Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation for the annual pollution study. Household fires, brick kilns, open garbage burning and diesel vehicles are primary sources of PM2.5.Nitrogen dioxide, on the other hand, is a key marker of traffic-related air pollution and is abundant in urban areas like Kathmandu. Nitrogen dioxide belongs to a group of highly reactive nitrogen oxides (NOX) which combine with other gases to form toxic ozone (O3).“NO2 is a pollutant most closely associated with vehicular traffic, and in Kathmandu the concentration of this gas is higher than other cities in the region like Karachi, Dhaka and Delhi,” warns Pant. “The data indicates the need for continued action to reduce emissions at source."Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/solution-to-pollution/">Solution to pollution</a>, Pallavi Pant and Anobha Gurung<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131128/637234cf9c7e80680e0c4953jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1553" height="704">Indeed, a 2016 study by the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies found that the emission of oxides of nitrogen have increased significantly in Nepal in the last decade, and is second only to carbon monoxide (CO).Another paper in 2017 by a Yale research group led by Anobha Gurung observed high levels of NO2 with an annual average 22.1 ppb (parts per billion) in 2014. By comparison, it was only 10.7 ppb in a highly polluted city like Ulaanbaatar.Atmospheric scientist-turned-politician Arnico Panday, however, says the data for NO2 for the last 20 years are not based on surface measurements, and extrapolate  satellite data which could make them less accurate.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=27563&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Air pollution is more dangerous than smoking</a>, Sonia Awale<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131128/637234d29c7e80680e0c4954jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000">“While they do show an increasing trend, the reported levels are far below levels that have health impacts,” Panday told Nepali Times. “That said, NO2, along with its sibling nitric oxide does play a significant role in the chemistry of ozone, a gas that impacts lungs and leaves, and that has increased in Nepal, especially during the spring months.”Vehicular pollution has long been identified as one of the major sources of air pollution in Kathmandu. But while diesel buses and trucks emit CO2, carbon monoxide and tiny soot particles, the contribution of two-wheelers has been overlooked.Motorcycles and scooters are considered less polluting because their petrol internal-combustion engines are very efficient in converting fuel to energy. However, their exhausts give off harmful pollutants like hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides. This is not a problem if there are only a few two-wheelers around, but the number of motorcycles and scooters in Kathmandu Valley now exceeds 1.2 million.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/poisoning-the-air-we-breathe/">Poisoning the air we breathe</a>, Sonia Awale<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131128/637234d69c7e80680e0c4955jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="960" height="640"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131128/637234da9c7e80680e0c4956jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000">“Two-wheelers, in general, emit PM2.5, black carbon, nitrogen oxides, and volatile organic compounds. Two-wheelers with older, two-stroke engines can be an important source of air pollution,” explains Pant. Motorcycles also emit other harmful gases including carbon monoxide (CO) and convert atmospheric oxygen into toxic ozone (O3).Siva Praveen Puppala, an aerosol scientist at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) says motorcyclists alone cannot be blamed if other forms of public transport are not reliable. He says, “Unless we come up with cleaner alternatives for them, like an efficient mass transit, we are also at fault.”These poisonous gases and suspended particulates together have increased the prevalence of respiratory ailments among Nepalis. A study published in the medical journal BMJ this week revealed that in 2019 Nepal recorded the highest age-adjusted death rate due to chronic lung diseases in the world at 182.5 per 100,000 population.Over 3,000 years were lost to ill health or disability from the condition, with nearly all cases of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) being environmental in origin, according to lead author Jay Kaufman of the Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health at McGill University in Montréal.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-lockdown-proves-air-quality-can-be-improved/">Nepal lockdown proves air quality can be improved</a>, Sonia Awale<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131128/637234dd9c7e80680e0c4957jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131128/637234e19c7e80680e0c4958jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000">The Nepal Burden of Disease 2019 report by the Nepal Health Research Council also shows that chronic respiratory diseases are the biggest killers in the country, making up over 20% of all deaths, behind only cardiovascular ailments.“We have enough evidence to prove that air pollution is leading to a sharp increase in respiratory ailments and yet not much has been done to control this major risk factor,” says Raju Pangeni, a pulmonary specialist at HAMS hospital in Kathmandu.“Perhaps because its impact is not easily visible much like that of the climate crisis, we are paralysed into inaction. But the burden of outdoor air pollution is so high that an individual alone can’t do much, we need politicians and bureaucrats to intervene for an actual change,” Pangeni adds.According to the Air Quality Life Index, an initiative of the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago, Nepal is the third most polluted country in the world with all of its 30 million population living in areas where the average particulate matter concentration exceeds the WHO threshold of 5μg/m³.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/how-weather-elevates-air-pollution-in-kathmandu/">How weather elevates air pollution in Kathmandu</a>, Jagdishwor Karmacharya and Shanti kandel<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131128/637234e49c7e80680e0c4959jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="980" height="758">‘Measured in terms of life expectancy, particulate pollution is the greatest threat to human health in Nepal, reducing life expectancy by 4.1 years on average,” the report says. ‘Child and maternal malnutrition reduce average life expectancy by about 1.3 years, while smoking reduces life expectancy by about 2.5 years on average. In Kathmandu, residents are on track to lose 3 years on average.’Safety measures against Covid-19 such as masking up and avoiding crowded spaces are also effective in preventing a majority of respiratory diseases. There is also an increased level of awareness following the pandemic about the timely diagnosis which has made treatment manageable.Lesser known risk factors like the burning of incense sticks or being around funeral pyres, which can equal to smoking 100 cigarettes a day, should also be communicated. Experts say that the most dangerous pollutant in Nepal are suspended particles smaller than 2.5 microns that are given off indoors from fireplaces, vehicles, brick kilns and open garbage burning. All these interventions need political will and an implementation strategy.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/polluted-politics/">Polluted politics</a>, Editorial<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131128/637234e79c7e80680e0c495ajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1041" height="640">Kathmandu’s deadly air pollution should not just be seen as an environmental hazard, but an indication of political failure. Which is why it is encouraging that Nepal’s foremost atmospheric scientist, Arnico Panday is standing for federal elections in November from Lalitpur-3.He has made the reduction of air pollution his highest priority along with climate adaptation, transport safety, heritage conservation, domestic job creation, and access to high quality education and healthcare.Said Panday: “If elected, in the first year I plan to empower and incentivise local governments to crack down on polluters within their jurisdictions, create an entity to fight forest fires from the ground and the air, and introduce a comprehensive clean air act that will bring Nepal’s air quality within WHO guidelines by 2030.”Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=27455&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">How to clean up Kathmandu’s air</a>, Anil Chitrakar

Sonia Awale

WARNING: Breathing is hazardous to health

<figure><img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111410110/637203aa9c7e80680e0b281djpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Morning rush hour at the congested Koteswor intersection in Kathmandu. Photo: AMIT MACHAMASI</figcaption></figure>The rapidly deteriorating air quality in Nepal demands an overhaul of its over a quarter million diesel-powered buses and trucks as well as a drastic revision of the country’s vehicles mass emission standards, says a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048969721076178?dgcid=author&amp;fbclid=IwAR3sMSNAiVv0NUa6xcRhZPNOnWVxM2LZXrYHrPzdjmaOqm08s8EMuV44uTc">new study</a>.On the morning of 5 January, the capital, Kathmandu, registered 438 on the <a href="https://aqicn.org/city/kathmandu/">Air Quality Index</a> (AQI)  — 12 times more than the WHO’s suggested maximum limit of 35. The composite measurement takes into account particulate matter, carbon monoxide, sulphur, nitrogen dioxide and ozone.“Using experiment-based emission factors measured on the roadside, we were able to build a comprehensive diesel vehicle emission inventory for the country covering the period from 1989 to 2018,” says Bhupendra Das, lead author and researcher at the <a href="https://www.iass-potsdam.de/en">Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies</a>, in Potsdam, Germany, and at <a href="https://tribhuvan-university.edu.np/">Tribhuvan University</a>, Kathmandu.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/breathing-can-kill-you/">Breathing can kill you</a>, Sonia Awale During that period, Nepal’s diesel consumption in the <a href="https://www.scidev.net/asia-pacific/enterprise/transport/">transport</a> sector went up 13 times to 892,770 kilolitres annually, according to the study published online last month in Science of the Total Environment.In building an <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/green-sticker-green-light-to-pollute/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">emissions</a> inventory for Kathmandu, Das and his team encountered large uncertainties due to differing emission factors based on vehicle category, fuel quality and maintenance. “We took into account factors like total distance travelled, fuel consumed, mileage, driving conditions, climatic factors, load and the age of the diesel-powered vehicles that were studied,” he says.The team focused on four major pollutants — carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, black carbon and PM2.5 (particulate matter smaller than 2.5 microns). The researchers found most diesel-powered buses and other <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/nepali-times-search/?q=public+transport" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">public transport vehicles</a> deployed in Kathmandu are old and poorly maintained. Low vehicle speeds, below 20 kilometres per hour, old vehicles with high mileage, the narrow and hilly roads of the Kathmandu Valley, and poor fuel quality were significant contributors to carbon monoxide and other pollutants.Read also: <a style="font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: normal;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/happy-new-air/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Happy New Air</a>, Sonia Awale Fuel quality tests showed that 80% of the diesel sampled exceeded the sulphur limits of 350 milligrams per litre as laid down by the public sector <a href="http://noc.org.np/">Nepal Oil Corporation</a>.<a href="https://www.hnbgu.ac.in/sites/default/files/2020-09/alok%20gautam.pdf">Alok Sagar Gautam</a>, assistant professor at the physics department of the <a href="https://www.hnbgu.ac.in/">HNB Garhwal University</a> in Uttarakhand state, India, says that while landlocked Nepal imports diesel and other petroleum products from India, “the origins of sulphur and other contaminants in retail fuel are totally different in India and Nepal”.India has ordered the scrapping of all diesel vehicles older than 10 years from the start of the year. Such a drastic move may be difficult for Nepal to follow. But Das suggests a lowering of the present upper limit of 20 years to 15 with emphasis on strict monitoring of older vehicles for emissions.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/how-weather-elevates-air-pollution-in-kathmandu/">How weather elevates air pollution in Kathmandu</a>, Jagdishwor Karmacharya and Shanti Kandel“Because this study covers both the historical emission factors as well as recent ones, it is valuable for the development of an emission inventory for India and other countries in the South Asia region,” says Gautam. “What is needed is a scaled-up project covering the whole region.”Previous studies, such as one <a href="https://aaqr.org/articles/aaqr-19-03-achr-0159">published in 2020</a> in Aerosol and Atmospheric Chemistry, had also shown that poor quality fuel, high traffic congestion, old and poorly maintained diesel vehicles were responsible for a large increase in transport-related emissions in recent years.The 2020 study found that timely servicing and maintenance of diesel vehicles could lower black carbon emission by 1.4 times and PM 2.5 by almost three times. It recommended a <a href="https://www.scidev.net/asia-pacific/governance/policy/">policy</a> of mandatory, routine maintenance of the diesel fleet to systematically reduce emissions in the Kathmandu Valley.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/the-road-to-electric-transportation-in-nepal/">The road to electric transportation in Nepal</a>, Diya RijalDas suggests a different approach, however. “The present scenario in Kathmandu and in the rest of Nepal demands practical, cost-effective solutions to quickly cut emissions. These could start with repair and maintenance of roads, improvement of fuel quality and switching the ageing diesel fleet to at least Euro IV standards.”Nepal’s nationally determined contribution submitted to the <a href="https://www.unfccc.int/">UN Framework Convention on Climate Change</a> envisages promotion of advanced, electric, hybrid, hydrogen-powered, and other types of vehicles running on clean fuels. By 2025 at least 25% of all private passenger vehicles sales and 20% of all public transport vehicles will be electric-powered, the commitments say.“The concept of <a href="https://www.scidev.net/asia-pacific/environment/climate-change/">climate</a>-resilient economic growth through an improved transport sector is being taken seriously,” adds Das. “It is now inescapable that highly <a href="https://www.scidev.net/asia-pacific/environment/pollution/">polluting</a> and obsolete transport vehicles burning diesel be phased out through scrappage policies that involve compensations or other schemes with incentives for vehicle owners.”Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/cleaner-air-with-greener-buses/">Cleaner air with greener buses</a>, Bhushan TuladharThis piece was produced by SciDev.Net’s Asia &amp; Pacific desk.

‘Nepal must scrap old diesel vehicles’

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110161156/636d1f909c7e80680e0af470jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2000" height="2625"/><figcaption>Photo: AMIT MACHAMASI</figcaption></figure>On Thursday morning, Nepali Times photographer Amit Machamasi was greeted with a shocking sight when he drove up to Nagarkot to take pictures of overnight snowfall. Below him, dozens of <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=2498#.Yc5xVy2B2t8" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">brick kilns</a> were spewing out smoke and steam into the city’s air (photo).The rain had washed down suspended particles, but the brick kilns were pumping more smoke into the air we breathe. There have been attempts to relocate brick kilns away from the densely-populated capital, but political patronage means owners are still fouling the air.After the 2015 earthquake damaged most of the Valley’s brick factories, <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/brick-factories-still-using-old-polluting-technology,2078" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">some adopted cleaner technology</a> to reduce emissions. Public pressure and urban growth then pushed most brick factories to the city’s fringes, and they are now  concentrated around Bhaktapur – most of those in the photograph are traditional dirty chimneys.After two years of forced closure during the pandemic, the brick kilns are once more working overtime to fill a backlog of demand from builders. But with politicians bogged down in power struggles, local leaders are too distracted to address the pandemic and pollution crises – both of which affect the human respiratory system.In a public opinion poll in this newspaper just before the 2017 elections, most respondents said <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/dirty-politics-dirty-air/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">air pollution</a> topped their list of concerns. Pollution has gotten worse since then, but it is unlikely that dirty air will figure in election speeches in 2022.“We have cleaner options like <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/earth-bricks-for-cleaner-and-healthier-kathmandu,4161" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">interlocking earth bricks</a>, so we just need public pressure to make it an election issue,” says environmentalist Bhushan Tuladhar.A pre-pandemic research showed that 40% of suspended particulates in Kathmandu’s air was from brick kilns, 30% from vehicular emissions, and 20% from open burning of trash and biomass. With the exponential increase in cars and motorcycles, the concentration of vehicular pollution at street level is now 70%.“<a style="letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/breathing-is-hazardous-to-health/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Hazardous pollution levels</a> in winter have become the norm, yet the government is not doing much to control it,” says Shilshila Acharya of the Avni Centre for Sustainability. “The public should demand action from our leaders.”Although public awareness about <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/how-weather-elevates-air-pollution-in-kathmandu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">air pollution</a> is at an all time high, it has not translated into action by municipalities or the federal government – even though in a democracy elections would be the way to force accountability from public officials.Says Tuladhar: “Campaigning in 2022 for elections, particularly for local government, will give us a platform to build political will to reduce air pollution. People have to be outraged, and the good news is that we have some young and educated leaders taking the lead.”In 2019, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-is-going-up-in-smoke/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">air pollution</a> resulted in the deaths of 42,100 Nepalis, according to one research. Many more were indirectly affected. Vehicular emission, garbage and agricultural residue burning and brick kilns were the main sources of toxic ambient air.Besides shifting to cleaner and greener brick-making technology, controlling garbage burning, and a rapid transition to electric vehicles with government investment in electric mass transit, would be steps that would quickly improve air quality in Kathmandu.Air pollution is leading to the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/double-whammy-air-pollution-and-covid-19/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">premature death of Kathmandu’s citizens</a>. It has a huge impact on the economy. The solution is political, and elected officials need to respond to the crisis.Adds Shilshila Acharya: “Politicians as always are big on promises but we demand that they first protect our health by cleaning up the air we breathe. It is a basic right guaranteed by the Constitution. Don't talk about more grandiose plans, just clean up our air first.”

Happy New Air

<figure><img width="900" height="600" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141152/636d02ed9c7e80680e0a36a8jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Photo: NEPALI TIMES ARCHIVE</figcaption></figure><a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/how-weather-elevates-air-pollution-in-kathmandu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kathmandu’s air quality</a> has just got considerably worse, not just because of dirtier air, but because the World Health Organisation (WHO) has revised its Global Air Quality Guidelines, halving the recommended value for annual average pollution levels. Safe exposure to concentrations of harmful particles below 2.5 microns (PM2.5) in diameter every year has now been halved, meaning that many Kathmandu residents could be breathing much more <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/air-pollution-is-more-dangerous-than-smoking/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">polluted air</a> than they throught.On 22 September the WHO updated its Air Quality Guidelines (AQG) such that annual mean concentrations of PM2 should not exceed 5 kg/m3 and NO2 not exceed 10 kg/m3. In addition, peak season mean 8-hr ozone concentration should not exceed 60 kg/m3. The 2005 guideline values for PM2 and NO2 were, 10kg/m3 and 40 kg/m3 respectively, with no recommendation for long-term suspended particles and ozone concentrations.Environmentalist Bhushan Tuladhar immediately took to twitter to respond to the new recommended standard for air quality: ‘The WHO just released its new air quality guidelines which have halved the guideline value for annual average PM2.5 in ambient air. This means Kathmandu, which had annual PM2.5 levels that were about five times higher than the WHO guidelines now have pollution levels that are 10 fold higher.’The new standards are ambitious and reflect the large impact of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/polluted-politics/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">air pollution</a> on public health, and experts hope that it will influence air quality policy across the globe. They recommend bold action to clean up the air at all levels and across all sectors such as transport, energy, industry, agriculture and residential.“Air pollution is a major global public health threat that causes a range of adverse health effects, even at the lowest observable concentrations. The updated guidelines offer a wake-up call, to reconsider current air quality legislation and regulations,” noted a joint statement released by the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology (ISEE) with the European Respiratory Society following the revised guidelines.It adds: “There is ample evidence to strongly support government action to reduce air pollution and address climate change simultaneously. But the most important message is that each reduction in the outdoor concentrations of key air pollutants brings health benefits to the surrounding population, even in places which already have low pollution concentrations.”Additionally, most jurisdictions with <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/solution-to-pollution/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">clean air</a> regulations have relied on fixed limit values with little incentive to further reduce air pollution levels once compliance with the limit value is achieved. Given the evidence that health effects occur down to very low concentration levels, future clean air policies must include incentives for progressive lowering of exposures of the entire population, thereby improving health for all.The new <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/how-transboundary-haze-affects-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">air quality</a> guidelines are not legally binding however but experts believe can represent a turning point in the way we approach air pollution globally, and in particular, South Asia where the air pollution levels are consistently high and the health burden is stark.“The new guidelines offer a benchmark for South Asian cities and countries to plan their air quality agenda. This will bring renewed interest in the topic and create an opportunity to push for stronger action,” says Pallavi Pant of Health Effects Institute based in Boston.She adds: “We know where we’d like to get to, and the real discussion now should be focused on the basket of strategies and sectors we need to address.”Air pollution, indoors and outdoors, accounted for some 12% of all death in 2019. Air pollution currently ranks fourth among major risk factors for global disease and mortality, only behind <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/why-do-so-many-nepalis-have-high-blood-pressure/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">hypertension</a>, smoking and dietary factors.In terms of economic burden, the estimated global health-related external costs were $5 trillion in 2013 with an additional $225 billion in lost labour productivity as per the World Bank Group 2016.Here in Nepal, the new guidelines hardly made it to the news. Nepal doesn’t even have a minister for the environment because of a continued political stalemate.Successive governments in the recent past have made commitments to promote <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/cleaner-air-with-greener-buses/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">electric vehicles and transport for clean air</a>, but they have done the opposite. Earlier this year in the budget, it reintroduced tax rebates. But only this week, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba’s government slashed taxes on the import of 10 or more diesel buses by new luxury hotels to 1%. It also cut by half the duty on petrol motorcycle assembly in Nepal.The Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns over the last two years have shown people that the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-lockdown-proves-air-quality-can-be-improved/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">goal of clean air can be achieved</a>, and it has become even more crucial at this point where the coronavirus cases are going down, vaccinations have picked up and businesses are reopening for the Dasain-Tihar festive season.“There is no shortcut to clean air, we need long-term policies that target major sources including transportation, use of wood/animal dung for cooking and heating, brick kilns, coal power plants, industries and waste burning,” adds Pant ,who is from India.She adds: “Access to clean energy for all is one key policy that can help reduce the burden of air pollution. It is also useful to keep in mind that air pollution is a multi-sectoral problem, and we must engage not just technical experts but also legal and policy experts, economists, healthcare workers and others in developing solutions.In the short term, especially as we approach the winter season, the government should ensure the public that <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/open-air/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">air quality data</a> is accessible and understandable. With this information, the public can avoid outdoor activities during hours when the pollution is at its peak and reduce the prevalence of allergies and immediate respiratory illness.

Dirty Kathmandu air gets dirtier

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121144/636ce4ba9c7e80680e0966c9jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3072" height="2048"/><figcaption>All photos: AMIT MACHAMASI</figcaption></figure>Nagarkot’s Datadol forest is the latest to experience a wildfire, as a series of fire incidents continue to be reported from across the country.A fire sparked off by ‘unknown causes’, according to the local residents, engulfed major parts of the forest on Saturday, starting at around 5PM. It took three fire trucks, assisted by local men, several hours into the night to douse the fire.There had been smaller fires incidents in the community forest in the past, but locals say they had never seen anything of the scale recorded on Saturday night.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIbZqjPO260<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121144/636ce4be9c7e80680e0966cajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3072" height="2048"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121144/636ce4c19c7e80680e0966cbjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3072" height="2048"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121144/636ce4c49c7e80680e0966ccjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3072" height="2048"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121144/636ce4c79c7e80680e0966cdjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3072" height="2048"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121144/636ce4ca9c7e80680e0966cejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3072" height="2048">"We've no idea how the fire started," Bane Tamanag, a Nagarkot resident told Nepali Times.Local residents said they were not aware what had started the fire. Similar feedback has been reported in other forest fire incidents in other parts of the country, with witnesses saying the source of the fire was unknown.On Sunday, a forest fire also broke out in Shivapuri Nagarjuna National Park. Nepal Police, Nepal Army, Armed Police Force and choppers from private airlines were deployed to douse the fire, which continued in some parts of the conservation area during the night, leaving the area shrouded in dense air.An extended winter drought left the forests tinder-dry, sparking fires across the Himalayas late last year. Forest fires had started spreading in the Manang Valley around Chame in late November, and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/kangchenjunga-wildfire-visible-from-space/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/kangchenjunga-wildfire-visible-from-space/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1618205140220000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHfyQyHSyP5Q4GmbAHC7vpg4fvzOw">in Pathibhara in eastern Nepal</a>, in December. Since then, hundreds of wildfires have spread across the Tarai and mid-mountains of Nepal.The country continues to endure the record <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/wildfires-in-nepal-cause-air-quality-to-plummet/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/wildfires-in-nepal-cause-air-quality-to-plummet/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1618205140220000&amp;usg=AFQjCNG8vIfbdr-yViYeRHWfeDfPwOTApQ">worst air quality</a> in recent years because of the wildfires that have ravaged the forests at unprecedented rates. The country has been shrouded in smoke from forest fires for close to three weeks, made worse by the vehicular emissions and industrial pollution.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121144/636ce4cd9c7e80680e0966cfjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3072" height="2048"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121144/636ce4d09c7e80680e0966d0jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3072" height="2048"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121144/636ce4d39c7e80680e0966d1jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3072" height="2048"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121144/636ce4d79c7e80680e0966d2jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3072" height="2048">Similar fire situations have been reported in neighbouring India. Last week, four people were killed in India’s Uttarakhand, when a fire engulfed 62 hectares of forest area. The Uttarakhand government deployed 12,000 forest guards and firefighters to put out the fire and also called an emergency meeting.  The state has reported 983 incidents of wildfires that have destroyed 105.85 hectares already.In Nepal, no such measures have been taken and there is no account available of the loss of wildlife or areas of forest, to the fires. Concerns over the situation have been expressed by a number of people who are working in the environment and climate change sector, while the government has come under criticism for its lack of response to the situation from various quarters.“An environment crisis is never just about the environment: climate change has political-economic antecedents in energy policy, hazardous air pollution is caused by regulatory failure, political neglect leads to health crisis,” wrote environmentalist Bhushan Tuladhar, on Twitter.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/thick-haze-adds-to-nepal-covid-19-woes/">Thick haze adds to Nepal Covid-19 woes</a>, Sonia Awale

While the forests are burning

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121144/636ce4589c7e80680e0966a5jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"/><figcaption>All photos: BIJAYABAR PRADHAN</figcaption></figure>Nepalis continue to endure the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/wildfires-in-nepal-cause-air-quality-to-plummet/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/wildfires-in-nepal-cause-air-quality-to-plummet/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1617953717287000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEbW59z8VbgZZSIjeZJqsVCCawClw">worst air quality</a> in recent years as wildfires ravage the forests at unprecedented rates. The country has been shrouded in smoke from forest fires for two weeks, made worse by the vehicular emissions and industrial pollution.The scale of the pollution can be gauged from <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepals-smoky-mountains/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepals-smoky-mountains/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1617953717287000&amp;usg=AFQjCNE7B78TtM7NBozWEdhc5gQQCkyOqQ">this series of photographs</a> of Kathmandu Valley taken from the same spot at Chobar, a year apart.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-is-going-up-in-smoke/">Nepal is going up in smoke</a>, Kunda Dixit<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121144/636ce45c9c7e80680e0966a6jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121144/636ce45f9c7e80680e0966a7jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121144/636ce4619c7e80680e0966a8jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="1500"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121144/636ce4649c7e80680e0966a9jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="960">An extended winter drought left the forests tinder dry, sparking fires across the Himalayas late last year. Forest fires had started spreading in the Manang Valley around Chame in late November, and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/kangchenjunga-wildfire-visible-from-space/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/kangchenjunga-wildfire-visible-from-space/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1617953717287000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFuR8ItxSKUdYvnJ0sf_YTjEwbbSQ">in Pathibhara in eastern Nepal</a>, in December. Since then, hundreds of wildfires have spread across the Tarai and mid-mountains of Nepal.These images of locals trying to put out a wildfire making way through the forests near Phoksundo Lake since 3 April, were taken by photographer, Bijayabar Pradhan.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121144/636ce4679c7e80680e0966aajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121144/636ce46a9c7e80680e0966abjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121144/636ce46d9c7e80680e0966acjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000">Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/thick-haze-adds-to-nepal-covid-19-woes/">Thick haze adds to Nepal Covid-19 woes</a>, Sonia Awale

No smoke without fire

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111012110/636cd9e39c7e80680e092ecajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="844"/><figcaption>For the third straight day, air quality over Nepal has been at hazardous levels. In Pokhara, the smoke obliterated a view of the other side of the lake. Photo: BHUSHAN TULADHAR</figcaption></figure>There were already indications in December that the wildfire season in the Himalaya was starting early. There had been no rain for three months, and the forests were already burning from Piuthan to Pathivara. One forest blaze in Manang started in November and was still raging two months later.During the Nepal Literature Festival in Pokhara in January, guests noticed the summit of Mt Machapuchre devoid of snow and the base of the mountain covered in smoke from a vast forest fire.The blazes then spread to Lamjung and Rasuwa, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/dirty-politics-dirty-air/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/dirty-politics-dirty-air/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1616998051227000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEPru_Q8PRGnvZpCeIL2stw9u2mjQ">blowing the smoke to Kathmandu</a> where the Air Quality Index (AQI) crossed 500 on the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/kathmandu-air-pollution-hits-record-high/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/kathmandu-air-pollution-hits-record-high/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1616998051227000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHn4azWNbMze_6T7pF3JunQg_drkA">afternoon of 5 January</a>, raising calls for the government to declare a health emergency.It only got worse in February and March, and by last week there are hundreds of wildfires spreading right across the Tarai and mid-mountains of Nepal, shrouding the whole country in smoke. People complained of stinging eyes, headaches and breathing difficulties.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111012110/636cd9e69c7e80680e092ecbjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="480">The Air Quality Index that measures the concentration of harmful particles below 2.5 microns <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/kathmandu-air-pollution-hits-record-high/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/kathmandu-air-pollution-hits-record-high/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1616998051227000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHn4azWNbMze_6T7pF3JunQg_drkA">rose to 632 in Kathmandu on Friday, 26 March</a> as a brisk southwesterly breeze blew in smoke from fires in Chitwan, Makwanpur and Parsa.On Sunday, the AQI had stayed above 400 for the third straight day – ten times higher than air quality that the World Health Organization deems safe to breathe, with peaks of 550-600. The smoke was thick enough to blot out the sun and the full moon.<a href="https://firms2.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/map/#t:adv;d:2021-03-27..2021-03-28;l:noaa20-viirs,nrt_noaa20-viirs,nrt_modis_a;@85.0,28.1,8z" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://firms2.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/map/%23t:adv;d:2021-03-27..2021-03-28;l:noaa20-viirs,nrt_noaa20-viirs,nrt_modis_a;@85.0,28.1,8z&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1616998051227000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFyj2rqx2QMCbzMRR0SV4U1Xd6yOw">NASA satellite images</a> taken on Sunday, 28 March showed extensive fires still sending plumes of smoke across the foothills of the eastern Himalaya and up the river valleys, sometimes right up into Tibet.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lLDTIYP-Us“As required by the Cabinet decision last year on the Air Quality Action Plan, the government should have declared an emergency after the AQI crossed 300,” says environmental activist Bhushan Tuladhar. “This would mean closing schools and factories, reducing traffic and strict controls on open burning.”However, except for a statement by the Ministry of Health warning citizens about <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/breathing-is-hazardous-to-health/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">high air pollution levels</a> that left it up to them to take care of their own health, a government consumed by political infighting has not been bothered by a crisis that adds to the threat of a Covid-19 surge.Most environmentalists agree that this year’s fire has been unprecedented. Previous wildfires in 2008 and 2012 in Rasuwa and Nuwakot had also turned the sky dark over Kathmandu, but only briefly. What worries them is the extended nature of the current spate of fires that has now lasted five months, and continues to get worse.They say the main reason for this year’s disaster is the extended winter drought, with precipitation over Central Nepal at only 10% of normal, and the dry spell continuing into spring. Scientists are reluctant to make a direct correlation between climate crisis and individual weather events, but studies have shown that climate-related droughts did contribute to last year’s devastating fires in California and Australia."Spring rainfall varies year to year. Last year we had a relatively wet spring. This year is exceptionally dry with forest fires already in January," says Arnico Panday, an atmospheric scientist and senior research fellow at the Institute for Integrated Development Studies (IIDS). "While it is difficult to immediately connect specific events to climate change, which considers average change over decades, there is an expectation that climate change will bring more extreme dry and wet events even if total precipitation stays the same.”There could be other factors at play like accumulated brush in the undergrowth because of the movement restrictions last year that added  flammable material to the forest floor. Spring is a season when many farmers deliberately light fires to encourage new shoots for their livestock to graze on, or before maize planting. These practices could have allowed fires to spread faster this year because the underbrush was already tinder dry.Depopulation of Nepal’s hinterland due to out-migration also means there are fewer people to make and maintain firebreaks in community forests, and also to extinguish local fires when they ignite. Forest management has historically also tended to be less responsive during periods of instability, especially when there is uncertainty over control over natural resources at the local level.https://youtu.be/tcbA-epQ6UoForest fires burning out of control in the mountains of Achham district on 10 March. Video: KUNDA DIXITIndeed, even the federal government’s response seem to be to let the fires burn themselves out. Despite the unprecedented scale of the blazes the Home Ministry has not mobilised the security forces and local authorities to take action. National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority has so far only been counting the number of fires, and expressing concern.Besides addressing the immediate health concerns for millions of Nepalis who are <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/dirty-politics-dirty-air/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">exposed to hazardous air</a> for days on end, the government also has to start looking at minimising the damage during the annual fire season in future.<a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/wildfires-ravage-nepal-mountains/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">This year’s wildfires</a> have received a lot of attention because Kathmandu and other cities were badly affected, but air quality experts say the cumulative impact of vehicular emission and industrial pollution throughout the year is much more harmful to health. There is also cross-border industrial pollution, smoke from crop residue burning, as well as wind-blown desert sand dust, which have been particularly acute in the past months.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111012110/636cd9e89c7e80680e092eccjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="745"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111012110/636cd9ec9c7e80680e092ecdjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="743"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>“This week’s forest fires just made the existing air pollution in Kathmandu worse, we should be doing a lot more to reduce vehicular exhaust, brick kilns and open garbage burning,” says Bhushan Tuladhar, a board member of Sajha Yatayat which last week opened a tender for 40 electric buses to upgrade Kathmandu’s urban transport system.And although Kathmandu got a bad name this weekend for topping the list of the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/polluted-politics/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">world’s most polluted cities</a>, experts say such rankings are misleading because they ignore other urban centres like Bharatpur or Simra where the air quality has been even worse for longer periods.“In the past couple of years, we have learnt that the absolute worst air quality in cities like Delhi, San Francisco, Sydney or Kathmandu is found when they are importing smoke from large nearby biomass fires,” explains Arnico Panday, who is also CEO of the Ullens Education Foundation. “Actually it is the vehicles and industries that have larger year-around emissions.”Meanwhile, meteorologists say there is no change in wind direction or rain forecast this week to blow away smoke, or douse the fires. Without any ground or aerial firefighting ability on the scale needed, it may just be that Nepal will have to wait for the fires to burn themselves out.

Kunda Dixit

Nepal is going up in smoke

<figure><img width="1125" height="1500" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111012110/636cd9bc9c7e80680e092ebajpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Smoke from wildfires was thick enough to nearly block out the sun in Kathmandu. Photos: KUNDA DIXIT</figcaption></figure>Kathmandu Valley endured one of the worst air quality in recent years on Friday as wildfires fanned by strong winds scorched forests in the Himalayan foothills.<a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://firms2.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/map/#t:adv;d:2021-03-26;l:terra_crc;@85.9,28.0,8z" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">NASA Worldview satellite photograph</a> taken at 1300hrs on 26 March showed thick smoke being blown into Himalayan Valleys and across northern India.Most of Central Nepal has seen an unusually dry winter with only 15% of the normal precipitation in January and February, and this has left the slopes tinder dry. This is also the time of year when farmers burn crop residue and brush to make fields ready to sow maize. <figure><img width="1500" height="692" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111012110/636cd9bf9c7e80680e092ebbjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Fire races through the undergrowth in a hardwood forest in Rautahat district on Friday afternoon, one of many big flare-ups that smothered Central Nepal in smoke on Friday. Photo: Mukesh Pokhrel</figcaption></figure><figure><img width="828" height="621" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111012110/636cd9c29c7e80680e092ebcjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>The AQI in Kathmandu at 1500hr on Friday was the worst in recent years: 632, which is nearly 20 times more hazardous than what WHO says is safe to breathe. </figcaption></figure>The <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/dirty-politics-dirty-air/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Air Quality Index (AQI) in Kathmandu Valley</a> at 1500hrs was 632, which is nearly 20 times worse than what the World Health Organisation regards as being safe to breathe. Even in <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/central-nepal-engulfed-in-smoke/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the most polluted afternoons</a> at this time of year, the AQI in Kathmandu’s city centre is below 150.Many people in Kathmandu complained of a burning sensation in the eyes and difficulty breathing as the Valley was shrouded in smoke that was thick enough to block the afternoon sun. <figure><img width="1297" height="788" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111012110/636cd9c49c7e80680e092ebdjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>A NASA Worldview satellite image taken at 1300hrs on Friday showed thick smoke being blown right across the foothills of the eastern Himalaya.</figcaption></figure><figure><img width="750" height="346" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111012110/636cd9c89c7e80680e092ebejpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Smoke blankets the East-West Highway near Chandranighapur in the Tarai on Friday evening. Photo: Mukesh Pokhrel</figcaption></figure>Most domestic flights to Kathmandu were cancelled after 1pm, and international flights were either cancelled or diverted because the visibility dropped below 800m.A Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong diverted to Delhi, while a Nepal Airlines flight from Delhi landed after holding for over an hour. A Himalaya Airlines flight from Dammam also had to divert. <figure><img width="720" height="480" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111012110/636cd9ca9c7e80680e092ebfjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure><img width="640" height="427" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111012110/636cd9cc9c7e80680e092ec0jpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="640" height="427" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111012110/636cd9ce9c7e80680e092ec1jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figure><img width="720" height="480" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111012110/636cd9d19c7e80680e092ec2jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure><img width="640" height="427" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111012110/636cd9d39c7e80680e092ec3jpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="640" height="427" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111012110/636cd9d69c7e80680e092ec4jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figure><img width="720" height="480" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111012110/636cd9d89c7e80680e092ec5jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Photos: AMIT MACHAMASI</figcaption></figure>Adding to the smoke from the wildfire that has also been sand dust blowing from the Arabian and Indian deserts for the past week, and this is compounded by crossborder industrial pollution as well as Kathmandu’s own vehicular emission. The <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/kangchenjunga-wildfire-visible-from-space/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">wildfires are too extensive for Nepal’s meager fire-fighting capability</a>, and besides the blaze is in steep and inaccessible slopes and being spread rapidly by up-valley afternoon winds. <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/wildfires-ravage-nepal-mountains/" target="_blank" style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Wildfires have been common this winter and spring</a> in Kaski and Dhading and Rasuwa districts in central Nepal burning for months. One fire in the forests of lower Manang burnt continuously from November to January.

Wildfires in Nepal cause air quality to plummet

In the very first page of the first chapter of Nepal 2043: The Road to Prosperity are two maps. The first places Nepal right at the epicentre of Asia, and in the second the Kathmandu is at exactly the midpoint between Mumbai and Beijing. With his trademark optimism, author Sujeev Shakya says Nepal is not land-locked but land-linked to three billion people in China and India. We just need those two economic engines to pull us in the same direction. ‘With China and India becoming the two largest economies in the world in the next two decades … Nepal is the most valuable piece of real estate in the world,’ Shakya writes. For one thing, Nepal does not look beyond India and China for tourism — with the right policies it can attract millions of tourists just from those two countries. Nepal is set to graduate from a low- to a middle-income country by 2026 and to a high-income country in 2043 — hence the name of the book. The year 2043 in the Bikram Sambat calendar is also 2100 — a new Nepali century. The book delves into the past, present and future of Nepal and analyses enablers including hydropower, a fundamental transformation of which will drive the 2043 goal. The commoditisation of electricity will be the biggest transformation. Nepal can deploy ‘Cyber Gurkhas’ to attract foreign investors with the management of data centres with climate friendly renewable energy. Access to technology such as precision agriculture, a data-driven approach to farming to improve food production, reduce environmental impact and enhance profitability could be Nepal’s strategy into 2043 and beyond. ‘Earlier, we needed ploughs and strong hands in agriculture. Now, you need a computer and strong fingers,” Shakya writes, citing a neighbour’s son who inspects his crops from drone cameras. A farmer in an Ilam teashop tells the author he asks AI questions in Nepali, and it answers promptly. The biggest enabler of all is Nepal’s young demography with 62% of the population in the active 15-60 age bracket, while 28% are younger than 14. Nepal’s dependency ratio has dropped to the lowest in history with 100 Nepalis having to support 62 dependents. But this demographic dividend window is closing. Nepal’s total fertility rate declined from 2.62% in 1981 to 0.92% in 2021 — below replacement level. We have less than 30 years left to make the best use of the youth, many of whom are currently studying and working abroad. Nepal’s biggest resource, therefore, is its diaspora spread across the world who send home $20 billion a year. Migration is not just a necessity but an aspiration for many Nepalis, and they are an important source of contacts, investment and soft power. This young and educated group has taken advantage of connectivity and digitisation in all arenas of national life. TikTok and Instagram have become e-commerce platforms, or mobile app-riven digital services. Nepal’s software companies exported over $1 billion worth of IT products last year. Next we need a change in the bureaucratic mindset to eliminate paper and manual processes, which would also contribute to reducing corruption. Shakya comes up with many revelations: 81% of Nepalis live in houses they own, much higher than most other South Asian countries which means higher disposable income. Nepal has the highest tax-to-GDP ratio in South Asia. The banking sector is twice the size of Bangladesh despite Nepal having just one-fifth of its population. In 2021, 12.62% of the population had demat accounts in Nepal, while India had only 5.32%. For every five male investors, there are four women in Nepal while it is 10:1 in India. With such figures and prospects, how come Nepal just went through a violent uprising that took the shortest time to topple a democratically-elected government in modern history? One early chapter of 2043 is actually dedicated to how Nepalis have always thrived on chaos. When people faced up to 20 hours of power cuts a day, people worked around the load-shedding schedule, woke up at ungodly hours to cook and stock up on inverters. They did not put up a fight, or even protest. ''Generally, Nepalis are used to taking things lying down, and perhaps this also needs to change,' says Shakya, writing that line before last month’s uprising. ‘On the one hand, some of these issues speak volumes about the average Nepali’s patience and perhaps optimism that things will change in the long run. On the other hand, one is also forced to wonder how much longer they will be able to put up with unfavourable conditions if things don’t change.’ It does seem Nepali had enough with corruption, governance failure and political apathy to the concerns of ordinary people. The final chapter lists the non-negotiables to realise the 2043 Nepal Roadmap: democratic values and freedom of speech, a capitalist welfare state and socio-political transformation to tackle corruption and impunity. The book notes, ‘Countries transitioning to democratic rule experienced a 20% increase in GDP over a 25 year period compared to what they would have achieved under authoritarian regimes. After the end of the Shah rule in 2006, Nepal’s GDP rose from US$10 billion to US$44 billion by 2024.’ The government’s Vision 2030 document projects Nepal’s GDP at US$100 billion, and the Vision 2043 estimates that it will be a US$423 billion economy with a per capita of US$12,100. However, it will need more than optimism and practical action to make these projections real. China and India loom large throughout the book with examples of small city states like Singapore which have taken advantage of their strategic location. Despite the tension between India and China, the two will have to collaborate given the inherent advantages. China has replaced the United States as India’s biggest trading partner. Sujeev Shakya is a great admirer of former Singaporean diplomat and author Kishore Mahbubani, and he has written a blurb for the book. He quotes Mahbubani saying that for the past 2,000 years, apart from the last two hundred, Asian countries have dominated the world, and it is quite natural that the world’s economic centre is returning to Asia. And Nepal is strategically placed to make the most of it because of its location between two of the world’s fastest growing economies. We just have to get our politics right, and have a strategy for equitable growth in the new Nepali century.  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251016091052_78b2d1495d59cd492a17693e0e770b65230c7cb749393ac6643f4676b73832ef.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20251016091052_78b2d1495d59cd492a17693e0e770b65230c7cb749393ac6643f4676b73832ef" data-rendition-name="original" width="1136" height="702" loading="lazy" alt="Sujeev Shakya book details NT"></figure>

Retrofitting Nepal for future shocks

In the aftermath of the GenZ protests last month, as new PM Sushila Karki chose the first members of her Council of Ministers, youth collectives urged that it reflect the country’s diversity by including women, youth and people from various ethnic and socio-cultural backgrounds.&nbsp;
It took another couple of weeks for Karki to include &nbsp;bureaucrat and public health expert Sangeeta Mishra as &nbsp;Health Minister in her next tranche of ministers. Almost immediately, people dug up a video of Mishra calling herself “Nepali, but a native Indian”.
She was telling it like it was: Mishra is a naturalised Nepali citizen. But there was outrage in the ultra-nationalistic cybersphere. Mishra’s name was withdrawn from the list of ministers, with government officials citing an ongoing investigation at the CIAA.&nbsp;
With her Cabinet still incomplete a month after taking office, Prime Minister Karki was preparing to induct GenZ as ministers. A leak in the media floated the names, one of which was of Tashi Lhazom, a climate activist and filmmaker from Humla’s Limi Valley.&nbsp;
Almost immediately, social media erupted with discriminatory, xenophobic and misogynistic epithets against her: that she supported a separatist movement, that she was a foreign agent, that her citizenship was disputed, that she did not ‘look’ or ‘speak’ like a Nepali.&nbsp;
Political figures like Gyanendra Shahi, a prominent voice calling for the restoration of a Hindu monarchy, added fuel to the fire by making bigoted and false remarks about her heritage.
The former Commissioner of the National Human Rights Commission, Mohna Ansari, wrote on social media that it was shameful to question Lhazom’s identity: ‘Ms Tashi Lhazom is as Nepali as you are. Our society’s ugliest face and biggest flaw is doubting our own. Real patriotism embraces diversity — fake nationalism must end.’
Ansari, a human rights lawyer and activist, has also often been subject to Islamophobic and derogatory comments on digital platforms. &nbsp;
In response, the Indigenous GenZ Collective released Lhazom’s Nepali citizenship certificate to debunk the mistruths spreading on digital as well as mainstream media.
What makes a Nepali? What does a Nepali look or sound like? Who is a Nepali?
‘Had my name been Tashi Poudel, Thapa, Bhattarai or Ghimire, this would not have happened,’ Lhazom said in an interview with Kantipur following an avalanche of bigotry against her. ‘They questioned me because I do not look Nepali, or speak Nepali like a Khas. Because it is not my mother tongue.’
It is an indictment of Nepali society that indigenous Nepalis have to present proof, at the slightest inconvenience of mostly the dominant groups, of being a citizen of this nation simply because they might not fit into an imagined idea of Nepali nationhood by virtue of physical appearance, speech, geography, or faith.
And while we celebrate the successes of Nepal-born naturalised foreign citizens (some now hold elected office in the US) we refuse to afford the same respect to naturalised Nepali citizens, and those born in Nepal to excluded groups, nor do we expect them to work in the national interest if they are given responsibility to govern. And women are singled out twice as much for scrutiny.
Then cyber Nepal went into a tizzy when videos appeared of a biker’s group clad in black t-shirts emblazoned with the acronym ‘TOB’ which was interpreted to stand for ‘Tibetan Original Blood’ and linked to the Free Tibet movement.
The accusations snowballed into disinformation, xenophobia, and even calls for violence against Nepalis of Tibetan heritage and the Tibetan community in Nepal.&nbsp;
In the aftermath of the September protest, the hope was that politics and the bureaucracy would finally be rid of orthodox political actors. But first, we as a nation need to collectively examine the biases and bigotry that exist in Nepal’s socio-cultural space.&nbsp;
Otherwise, Nepal’s multiculturalism will be limited to just words in the Constitution and political tokenism.
No one who is in government now or in future can be expected to be completely free of subjective opinions, ideology, affiliation to a cause, or prior activism. And such criticism falls disproportionately on activists, advocates, and members from underserved and underrepresented communities.&nbsp;
One cannot be apolitical and hope to participate in politics, and as we move forward to rebuild the system it must not just reflect diverse communities, but also celebrate diversity of thought and beliefs.&nbsp;
Resorting to ethnocentrism, racism and chauvinism with conspiracy theories and discriminatory dog-whistling about fellow citizens is a disservice to Nepali nationhood. It is Nepal’s diversity that makes us strong.&nbsp;
Shristi Karki

What makes a Nepali?

We were used to getting stuck in Kathmandu’s notorious traffic with gas fumes and horns blaring. We are still stuck in traffic, but now it is mostly the quiet hum of EVs, and street-level air is noticeably cleaner. Alongside Norway, Nepal has the highest combustion-to-EV conversion rates in the world. And we are not even a middle-income country yet. How did we get here?&nbsp; For the first time in Nepal’s history, 2025 saw an unprecedented turn of events: two back-to-back auto shows a week apart in August, independent of each other. This was timed for the warm up to the Dasain season. &nbsp;&nbsp; The first auto show 6-11 August was the <a href="https://naimanepal.org/mobility-expo" target="_blank">NAIMA Mobility Expo 2025 </a>by the newly established Nepal Automobile Importers and Manufacturers Association which saw 35 new models, many of them EVs with 50 participating brands like Toyota, BYD, Hyundai, Kia, MG, Mahindra, Omoda &amp; Jaecoo, Proton and Leapmotor.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025101711108_d8c03f5141f0086814d866543af4d95310f340a7191363e4705aedda8e4b73d0.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2025101711108_d8c03f5141f0086814d866543af4d95310f340a7191363e4705aedda8e4b73d0" data-rendition-name="original" width="1770" height="1097" loading="lazy" alt="Electric cars in Nepal NT"> </figure>  The exhibition had a strong focus on two-wheelers aimed at affordable and easy mobility in a town now known for long traffic jams (see report). NAIMA attracted a record 100,000 visitors in six days.&nbsp; The second one was the Nepal Automobile Dealer’s Association Auto Show 2025 (<a href="https://youtu.be/emSd0mUuMjU" target="_blank">NADA</a>) to address the growing demands for cars and two-wheelers. It was a natural expression of new market forces at work, on one hand, and popular taste, on the other — one influencing the other.&nbsp; This year’s NADA Auto Show was its 17th iteration, and carried a hefty legacy: exhibiting a contemporary lineup from manufacturers such as Tata, Suzuki, Xpeng and Nammi, but also classics for vintage car lovers like the 1928 Ford Model A and a rare 1955 Austin Princess Dm4 sedan.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025101711108_dda7d264ddb12448cc10d9b1cb699632eee975741fc4c56055e4df904579c34f.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="2025101711108_dda7d264ddb12448cc10d9b1cb699632eee975741fc4c56055e4df904579c34f" data-rendition-name="original" width="1381" height="848" loading="lazy" alt="Electric cars in Nepal NT"> </figure>  It also showcased the Deepal eVTOL (a 2-seater drone), and a humanoid robot with dog. Curious onlookers at Bhrikuti Mandap thronged the show with footfall crossing 170,000.&nbsp; Earlier this year, I had traveled to attend India's largest auto show, the <a href="https://youtu.be/OgIIvXx6yOM?si=zNmMgklzCJpagTye" target="_blank">Bharat Mobility Global expo</a> in January in New Delhi. It was part of a <a href="https://youtu.be/GT6LBKiJvyg?si=r7YaxahjSAnsIfBY" target="_blank">roadtrip</a> from one capital to another with BYD Nepal on a Dolphin. The journey took three days through Bhairawa and then the Lucknow-Agra Expressway, covering a distance of 1200km one way.&nbsp; The drive through the horrid Narayanghat-Butwal corridor alone was testimony that EVs are no longer fragile and could handle a beating. And while both Nepal's economy pales in comparison to India, it was evident that the private passenger segment is well on its way to electrification. More than 70% of all vehicles sold in Nepal last year were electric. Sales representatives are unanimous: inquiries for EVs are at an all-time high and overshadow demand for ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) vehicles. Besides four-wheelers, a fast-growing proportion of scooters were also electric.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251017111016_e4cd988ca915ddd283a86d48fac332f22f98ff776b3d22391e10156ad56d7a1a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20251017111016_e4cd988ca915ddd283a86d48fac332f22f98ff776b3d22391e10156ad56d7a1a" data-rendition-name="original" width="1389" height="863" loading="lazy" alt="Electric cars in Nepal"> </figure>  I have spent the last two years <a href="https://youtu.be/256YQa37Ol8?si=Sv1wQ8EdvgMCiTM_" target="_blank">reviewing</a> many of these EVs. The days of batter-powered cars being small toy cars, with sub-par build quality and the range of golf carts have long gone.&nbsp; Fit and finishing in both Chinese and Indian EVs are comparable to established brand names even in Japanese and European markets. But most significantly for us in Nepal, battery technology and range have made inter-city travel on our highways imaginable. The media sometimes portrays Nepal as a prime testing/dumping ground for EVs due to lack of regulation and the proximity to the world’s largest EV exporter (China) and our tough geographical conditions. That is just a part of the story. What actually stands out is the incredible appetite for risk among Nepali buyers.&nbsp; Since the Covid pandemic charging infrastructure has spread across the country. My early trips between Kathmandu and Pokhara saw the possibility of topping up with just one charging gun at the <a href="https://rsr.com.np/" target="_blank">Riverside Springs Resort in Kurintar</a> – and I would have to wait in line, or the charger simply would not be working.&nbsp; These days, by the time I cross Kurintar from Koteswor in my Kona, I will have passed at least 10 charging stations with multiple guns. &nbsp; On my <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@casuallyannoyeddriver" target="_blank">YouTube reviews</a>, people from across the globe ask about range and handling EVs on poor road conditions like ours. The occasional skeptics also leave comments like: ‘If this works in the higher altitudes and mountainous roads of Nepal, then it should be a breeze down here in the flats of Australia and/or hills around Auckland!’  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251017111016_8b4fbe59884538849be6428eb2ce9249627a8970ed9ef4cd3c792682bf26dbed.jpg" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="20251017111016_8b4fbe59884538849be6428eb2ce9249627a8970ed9ef4cd3c792682bf26dbed" data-rendition-name="original" width="1139" height="787" loading="lazy" alt="Electric cars in Nepal"> </figure>  SATURATION? However, both the NAIMA and NADA auto show also confirmed that we could be hitting a peak EV. From having just one car in one budget segment, there are now multiple alternatives stretching from the entry of below Rs3 million to the premium and high-end Rs 10 million price point.&nbsp; Furthermore, the price wars on EVs that started in China a year ago have also trickled across to Nepal. Models such as the <a href="https://youtu.be/3wFN2I81Tq0?si=T6L4SAfRpoyNNvYC" target="_blank">MG S5</a>, Nammi Vigo, BYD Atto 2 (and 1) and <a href="https://youtu.be/y214kWbWTc4?si=bIevanDZEPQdkEs4" target="_blank">Deepal S05</a> saw aggressive pricing schemes and discounts that disrupted pre-existing quotas. Consumers can suddenly afford a lot more cars, and travel a lot further for a considerably smaller price tag.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025101711108_276afec1bdbd37497572939a4eada4bef74c9d075cd5851892c4dd1985edb9c5.jpg" data-media-id="editor_13" data-image-id="2025101711108_276afec1bdbd37497572939a4eada4bef74c9d075cd5851892c4dd1985edb9c5" data-rendition-name="original" width="1953" height="1107" loading="lazy" alt="Electric cars in Nepal NT"> </figure>  However, booking numbers at both auto shows did not necessarily translate into actual deliveries. The fact remains that almost 80% of registered vehicles in Nepal are still two-wheelers, and GDP per capita stands at just $1500 — among the lowest in the world.&nbsp; This means that early first-adopters are first-time buyers, and the remaining customers in the market are more skeptical and less willing. But there are also those that are unlikely to consider the EV suitable to travel to off-road rural areas. For the average Nepali family, upgrading or purchasing a new car is no small decision. It happens in five years or more with resale values being a big determinant. The EV boom may be reaching saturation.&nbsp; Both NADA and NAIMA shows drove home the message that Nepal’s transport sector is on an electric fast-track, but the road ahead will be bumpy.&nbsp; Soon after the shows, the glacial debris flow on the Bhote Kosi knocked out the Rasuwa-Kerung border with China, and earlier landslides had already blocked the Koradi checkpoint. Manufacturers are now using the less convenient Korala border in Mustang. BYD, Leapmotor and Omoda &amp; Jaecoo have begun rerouting their vehicles to make up for delivery deadlines.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025101711108_62fd70a476656062005959c247b38178d8efabf8570c73929295c0a103ff4013.jpg" data-media-id="editor_14" data-image-id="2025101711108_62fd70a476656062005959c247b38178d8efabf8570c73929295c0a103ff4013" data-rendition-name="original" width="1438" height="1031" loading="lazy" alt="Electric cars in Nepal NT"> </figure>  Although the distance from the capital to the Korala border (470km) is four times longer than from Rasuwa (128km) &nbsp;and Tatopani (112km), it is still considered faster and more cost effective than shipping via India using sea routes.&nbsp; And then Nepal was engulfed in turmoil after the youth-led protests of 8-9 September and its aftermath. Many automobile showrooms around Thapathali including Tata, Hyundai and CG were vandalised and torched.&nbsp; Sushila Karki leads a caretaker government till elections are held in March, and the unsettled situation will affect the economy and investment climate as well as the automobile sector. Arnav Upadhyay reviews automobiles and promotes road safety under the handle Casually Annoyed Driver on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@casuallyannoyeddriver" target="_blank">Youtube</a>, <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@casuallyannoyeddriver" target="_blank">Tiktok</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/casuallyannoyeddriver/" target="_blank">IG</a>, and this monthly column Drive Line in Nepali Times.

Is Nepal reaching peak EV?

While the streets of Kathmandu were erupting violent GenZ protests that brought down the government, Nepal’s athletes were achieving different kinds of breakthroughs on Spain’s mountain trails and in the cricket qualifiers in the UAE.&nbsp; On 27 September, two weeks after the uprising back home, Nepal's cricket team stunned the sporting world with their first-ever victory against a full member nation — defeating two-time World Cup champions West Indies by 19 runs, then crushing them by 90 runs two days later to seal a historic 2-0 series victory. On that very day, 5,000km away in the Spanish Pyrenees Sunmaya Budha stood on a podium alongside American and European champions, clutching a silver medal from the 3rd World Mountain and Trail Running Championships. No Asian athlete had ever finished this high in the Long Trail competition at the World Championships. While youth back home showed they would not tolerate injustice and could carve their own future, young Nepalis were securing it on the global sports stage even in moments of national crisis.&nbsp; The Long Trail event at the 2025 World Championships was designed to break even the strongest athletes. Stretching 82km through the Spanish Pyrenees, the course features an unrelenting 5,413m of elevation gain and descent.&nbsp; Athletes faced everything from steep scree slopes to narrow ridge lines, from boulder fields requiring scrambling to precipitous descents demanding total concentration. One misstep could mean injury, one lapse in focus could cost precious minutes.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025101909108_81152b4754331c4858ed2d0d28204e6a92559faf089fea9ebc84156766ff228a.png" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2025101909108_81152b4754331c4858ed2d0d28204e6a92559faf089fea9ebc84156766ff228a" data-rendition-name="original" width="977" height="731" loading="lazy" alt="World Mountain and Trail Running Championships"> <figcaption>The Nepal team at the World Championships 2025 with the final four: Sangge Sherpa, Sunmaya Budha, Suman Kulung, Man Kumar Roka Magar. Photo: PREETI KHATTRI</figcaption> </figure>  WOMEN'S COMPETITION Katie Schide (USA) - Winner • Time: 9:57:59 • Average pace: 7:18 per km&nbsp; &nbsp; <a href="https://www.facebook.com/sunmaya.budha.942">Sunmaya Budha </a>(Nepal) - Silver Medal • Time: 10:23:03 • Gap behind winner: 25 minutes and 4 seconds • Average pace: 7:36 per km Most recreational trail runners need 18-24 hours to complete this course, if they can finish it at all. Budha's pace means she was running at a speed that most casual runners could not maintain on a flat course, let alone while constantly climbing and descending mountains. MEN'S COMPETITION Jim Walmsley (USA) - Winner • Time: 8:35:11 • Average pace: 6:17 per kilometer (10:07 per mile) &nbsp; <a href="https://www.facebook.com/runnersumankulung">Suman Kulung (Nepal)</a> - 32nd Place • Time: 10:06:25 • Average pace: 7:24 per km • Finished 1 hour 31 minutes behind the winner • Best performance by an Asian male athlete &nbsp; <a href="https://www.facebook.com/rokamagarmankumar764">Man Kumar Roka Magar (Nepal)</a> - 37th Place • Time: 10:10:53 • Average pace: 7:27 per km • Finished just 4.5 minutes behind Kulung <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Yetimannnnn">Sangge Sherpa (Nepal)</a> - 116th Place • Time: 12:33:09 • Average pace: 9:11 per km  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025101909108_2255845b43e68b14d3b111099124f9c98898bbe9016299b9af278aca8b4377f7.png" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="2025101909108_2255845b43e68b14d3b111099124f9c98898bbe9016299b9af278aca8b4377f7" data-rendition-name="original" width="977" height="904" loading="lazy" alt="World Mountain and Trail Running Championships"> <figcaption>Sangge Sherpa organising himself post gear check in Can-Franc.</figcaption> </figure>  The men's winner averaged about 6:17/km on a course where elite mountain runners were struggling. Kulung and Roka Magar maintained a 7:24-7:27/km pace—faster than many recreational runners' easy flat road pace. They were faster than dozens of European athletes who train in the Alps. Even Sherpa's 9:11/km average pace over 12+ hours represents an extraordinary feat of endurance, maintaining forward progress on some of the most challenging mountain terrain in competitive trail running. “What set Budha apart was her exceptional descending ability. She recorded the fastest downhill speed among all women in the competition—a skill honed through years of training on Nepal’s steep mountain trails,” said her team director Ryan S Blair.&nbsp; Sunmaya Budha, ranked world 8th for 100km category events and 17th in the world by the International Trail Running Association (ITRA), entered the race having recently recovered from injuries to both legs.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025101909108_38d8bee04beaa6443480ecf4765e6b34f91d2d105128f292f73702072a820d25.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="2025101909108_38d8bee04beaa6443480ecf4765e6b34f91d2d105128f292f73702072a820d25" data-rendition-name="original" width="1600" height="1070" loading="lazy" alt="World Mountain and Trail Running Championships"> <figcaption>Sunmaya storming in 2nd position. Photo: WMTRC2025 CANFRAC </figcaption> </figure>  While American Katie Schide dominated from the front, Budha found herself in an intense battle for second place with Italy's Fabiola Conti, a specialised skyrace and mountain marathon runner. The two runners remained locked together through much of the course, running side-by-side at key checkpoints and pushing each other through the mountain wilderness. In ultra-trail racing, where climbs are often win by fractions of minutes, the ability to descend fearlessly and efficiently can make the difference between podium positions. Budha's technical prowess on the descents gave her a advantage over her European competitors. The decisive moment came in the final 20km. At the 65km mark, Budha held a 90-second lead over Conti. By 71.5km she had extended her advantage to eight minutes — a commanding gap she maintained to the finish. In a powerful display of national pride, she approached the finish wrapped in the Nepali flag, showing the world what Himalayan athletes can achieve on the global stage. Said Preeti Khattri, team lead for Nepal: "Standing right beside the USA and European peer. Proud. No Asian athletes have ever made it this far.” MEN, TOO While Budha captured headlines with her silver medal, the performances of Suman Kulung and Man Kumar Roka Magar were equally significant. Both athletes topped Asian athletes and numerous European competitors. Suman Kulung delivered a performance that demonstrated extraordinary mental toughness and racing intelligence. What makes his 32nd place finish even more impressive is that 1.5km he encountered a severe bottleneck on narrow technical trails.&nbsp; This critical delay pushed him back to around 92nd position—a devastating setback in a world championship race where every second counts. Many athletes would have been demoralised by such an early disaster.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025101909108_e2f358723ea8abaa262e749a4c6afb0a179cf9f3e0bb4eab1d973e25b9b00f09.png" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="2025101909108_e2f358723ea8abaa262e749a4c6afb0a179cf9f3e0bb4eab1d973e25b9b00f09" data-rendition-name="original" width="668" height="445" loading="lazy" alt="World Mountain and Trail Running Championships"> <figcaption>Suman Kulung coming through 65km Assisted Checkpoint. Photo: DR SIGRID FOUNDATION</figcaption> </figure>  But Kulung showed why he is Nepal's top-ranked trail runner: he launched a spectacular comeback. By the 30km mark, he had charged through the field to reach approximately 20th position — recovering over 70 places in less than 30km.&nbsp; His final time of 10:06:25 placed him ahead of runners from traditional mountain running powers including Switzerland, Austria, and Germany, and was the highest-finishing Asian male athlete in the competition.

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