<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114091156/637202fc9c7e80680e0b27e3jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2048" height="1366"/><figcaption>Vehicles are one of the biggest emitters of PM2.5 and other pollutants in Kathmandu. Photos: AMIT MACHAMASI</figcaption></figure>It is that time of the year again when smog makes <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/air-pollution-is-more-dangerous-than-smoking/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kathmandu’s air hazardous to health</a>. Hospitals are swamped not with Covid, but COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease).Once more, there is a flurry of media headlines about the dangerous concentration of suspended particles smaller than 2.5 microns from diesel exhaust.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/happy-new-air/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Happy New Air</a>, Sonia AwalePublic awareness about air pollution is at an all-time high, the average life expectancy of Kathmandu’s residents is reduced by at least four years. Yet, nothing happens. Why?“The awareness and knowledge have not translated into corrective action,” explains environmentalist Bhushan Tuladhar. “We know about vehicle emission tests but we ignore it, open burning is bad but we don’t stop, we have the opportunity to reduce air pollution with electric mass transport but we don’t invest in it.”<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114091156/637203009c7e80680e0b27e4jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Air pollution was directly linked to at least 42,100 deaths in Nepal in 2019. Almost half of that was due to breathing in particles smaller than 2.5 microns in diameter which can cross the air blood barrier in the lung capillaries. Most of those particles come from <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/green-sticker-green-light-to-pollute/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">vehicle emission</a>.From 1990 to 2015, the number of vehicless in Nepal grew by 1,995,404 — most of them in Kathmandu Valley. In five years, that figure doubled to 3,987,267.This figure doesn’t include the exploding demand for cars and motorcycles after the end of the Covid second wave in mid-2021. Nepal spent Rs543 billion in importing vehicles, transport equipment and spare parts in four months from mid-July to mid-October, against Rs357 billion and Rs418 billion for the same periods in 2020 and 2019.“There has been an unexpectedly high demand for private vehicles in Nepal after the pandemic, especially two wheelers given the public’s hesitancy to use buses due to coronavirus fears,” says Dhruba Thapa of the National Automotive Dealers Association.<iframe style="border: none;" title="Total vehicles in Nepal" src="https://e.infogram.com/e0cdbfd0-0b3c-4f57-851e-7aced6e69116?src=embed" width="700" height="700" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe><a style="color: #989898!important; text-decoration: none!important;" href="https://infogram.com/e0cdbfd0-0b3c-4f57-851e-7aced6e69116" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Total vehicles in Nepal</a><a style="color: #989898!important; text-decoration: none!important;" href="https://infogram.com" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Infogram</a>Raju Chettri, CEO of the MAW Enterprises that imports Yamaha bikes in Nepal has a similar observation. He saw a decline in the annual sales of two wheelers from about 250,000 units to 190,000 right after the pandemic. But this year, the sales went up to 350,000 units.“There are two reasons behind this: pent-up demand and reduced use of public transport because of Covid fears,” Chettri says.There are <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/poisoning-the-air-we-breathe/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">more than 3.1 million two-wheeers in Nepal</a>, over one million of them in Kathmandu. They are adding to the capital’s foul air, as they are up to 10 times more polluting per passenger kilometre than buses and cars.<iframe style="border: none;" title="Total Motorbikes in Nepal" src="https://e.infogram.com/ea449cd7-2598-4cd4-8ae2-cd91858f9553?src=embed" width="700" height="700" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe><a style="color: #989898!important; text-decoration: none!important;" href="https://infogram.com/ea449cd7-2598-4cd4-8ae2-cd91858f9553" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Total Motorbikes in Nepal</a><a style="color: #989898!important; text-decoration: none!important;" href="https://infogram.com" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Infogram</a>Two-wheelers also emit invisible toxic gases like carbon monoxide, benzene and nitrous oxides, and increase the concentration of street-level ozone. Motorcycle exhaust may not be as visible as diesel exhaust, but they are highly poisonous — especially when there are so many of them. Besides exacerbating respiratory diseases, the gases are carcinogenic, causing cardiovascular diseases and Alzheimer’s.The solution is to shift rapidly to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-electric-transport-future-is-here/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">cleaner electric vehicles</a>, not just for healthier air but also to meet Nepal’s net-zero pledge in Glasgow and to reduce the country’s burgeoning petroleum import bill.“The priority has to be on electric public transport and supporting infrastructure,” says environmentalist Tuladhar. “Electric buses are more expensive than diesel ones, so the government has to help with capital, and better manage Kathmandu’s public transport.”<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114091156/637203039c7e80680e0b27e5jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="720" height="480"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>This week, Nepal opened its first electric charging station powered by solar panels for the Lumbini Development Trust. Similar charging stations can be set up for public and private vehicles in existing bus parks across Nepal and along highways. Sajha Yatayat which is procuring 40 electric buses is also trying to turn the former trolley bus terminal into a charging station.Shilshila Acharya of the Avni Center for Sustainability agrees that the priority should be on <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/from-a-fossil-past-to-an-electric-future/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">electrifying public transport</a> and encouraging bicycle lanes. She says, “Replacing cars with more cars even if electric only promotes consumerism. We have to give people reliable alternatives.”Kathmandu Valley Air Quality Management Action Plan held its first implementation committee meeting this week, during which it discussed lunching of a USAID-funded project for air pollution and a forecasting system with technical support from ICIMOD.“The problem of air pollution will take some time to be solved but we have started our homework,” says Indu Joshi of the Department of Environment. “At the moment, our biggest challenge is controlling open burning.”<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114091156/637203069c7e80680e0b27e6jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2000" height="2625"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Apart from transport, garbage burning and biomass fuel for household heating and cooking are also contributors to Kathmandu’s dirty air. The problem is made worse in winter due to the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/how-weather-elevates-air-pollution-in-kathmandu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Valley’s topography that traps surface pollution</a> in an inversion layer.Improper <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/a-load-of-rubbish-kathmandus-garbage-problem,4039" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">solid waste management in Kathmandu</a> means locals burn garbage by the riverbanks near residential areas — while, as studies show, segregation of waste at homes can reduce the city’s garbage volume by up to 80%.There is no other problem that is so directly linked with the health and economy of the country as urban air pollution. The <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-lockdown-proves-air-quality-can-be-improved/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Covid-19 lockdown in 2020</a> is proof that Kathmandu can be cleaned up, it just needs <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/dirty-politics-dirty-air/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the right leadership and the political will</a> to back it up.Says Shilashila Acharya: “Our policies on mobility and air pollution have to be people- and culture-centric, instead of focusing only on technology. We must build public pressure to force the politicians into action.”A public opinion poll in this paper just before the 2017 elections showed that a majority of Nepalis were concerned about the health impact of pollution. Since 2022 will be dominated by campaigning for the next election, this could be turned into the main criteria for candidates to win votes.

Sonia Awale

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Breathing can kill you

<img width="1400" height="482" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108121148/636a42669c7e80680e04a6d0jpeg.jpg" alt=""/>Despite public awareness and relentless media coverage, Kathmandu’s air quality has worsened in the past two years. But public outrage does not seem to translate into action to clean up the air.A road-widening spree, earthquake destruction and delays in fixing streets dug up to replace water mains has turned the Valley into a dust bowl. There has also been a 25% increase in the number of vehicles on the roads.The theme for World Environment Day (5 June) is #BeatAirPollution. China will be the host nation and will showcase its dramatic progress in cutting pollution.In Nepal, 35,000 people die annually due to illnesses caused by polluted air. Average life expectancy is reduced by at least four years in the worst-affected areas like Kathmandu Valley, Chitwan and other parts of the Tarai. “Air pollution is a silent killer and while it is difficult to quantify its heath impact, hospitalisation due to serious respiratory diseases has increased sharply in recent years,” says chest specialist Raju Pangeni at HAMS Hospital in Kathmandu. “It is now causing heart attacks, kidney diseases, osteoporosis and dementia. Air pollution is more dangerous than smoking cigarettes.”Read also:<a style="background-color: #ffffff; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=27454&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#Beat Air Pollution</a>, Editorial<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 0.01em; font-size: 15px;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=27475&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Solution to pollution</a>, Pallavi Pant and Anobha GurungNon-smokers in Kathmandu are now suffering from diseases that you would expect to see afflicting chain smokers. And residents of the capital who smoke get a double whammy.“Controlling tobacco in Nepal is already such a big challenge, but  Kathmandu’s degrading air quality has doubled the disease burden,” says health activist Shanta Lall Mulmi. Ironically, World No Tobacco Day falls on 31 May, just four days ahead of Environment Day. Because Nepal’s national government and municipalities have done little to reduce risk, citizens have adopted their own methods of personal protection: wearing masks, installing air purifiers at home and office, cancelling morning walks, and monitoring air pollution levels on apps before allowing children to play outside.There are dozens of varieties of masks available in the market, along with air purifiers that cost more than Rs130,000. But public health specialists discount their efficacy and stress that the best solution is to reduce air pollution at sources.  Read also:<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 0.01em; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=27476&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Toxic bubble</a>, Ajaya Dixit<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 0.15px; outline: 0px;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=27467&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bad Air</a>“A mask at best is a temporary solution and does not block harmful gases. Their effectiveness also varies depending on the work place, environment and fitting. Because indoor air pollution levels are also high, ideally you would have to wear a mask 24 hours a day,” says Pangeni. Air pollution is also the main environmental risk factor for non-communicable diseases like cancers and lung diseases, concludes a recent report by the NCD Alliance and the Forum of International Respiratory Scientists: ‘The challenge is great, but the cure is straight-forward... it must be met by national, regional, local and personal responses. Collective action from many sectors is needed to assure that everyone can breathe clean air.’Indeed, a long-term solution requires policy level intervention and coordination between all branches of government. Electrified public transport would have been a good place to start, but 6 months after Prime Minister KP Oli launched an electric mobility action plan to turn at least 20% of public vehicles into battery-operated ones by 2020, progress has been slow. Read also:<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=27455&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">How to clean up Kathmandu’s air</a>, Anil Chitrakar<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/poisoning-the-air-we-breathe/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Poisoning the air we breathe,</a> Sonia AwaleThe government slashed taxes on electric vehicles, but much of the supporting infrastructure required, like charging facilities, uninterrupted electric supply and adequate parking lots, has not even been planned.“The first step in controlling air pollution is with electric public transport because vehicular emissions make up the majority of pollutants in Kathmandu’s air,” says environmentalist Bhushan Tuladhar.With neighbouring India and China committed to manufacturing only electric automobiles by 2030, Nepal will be forced to go electric. Getting prepared now will make that transition smoother.The US government held a meeting in Kathmandu this month of its embassy staff specialising in air pollution based in 30 Asian countries. On hand was Marcia Bernicat of the US Bureau of Oceans and International Environment and Scientific Affairs. “Dealing with a problem that is transboundary in nature requires strong regional cooperation,” she said. “When you can frame the problem in terms of how many people are dying and how much productivity is lost, then it becomes much more urgent.”Quantifying the socio-economic impact of air pollution on a country will be vital in raising awareness among the public as well as policy makers and leaders, but as we have seen in Nepal it does not immediately lead to policy change.   Read also:<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 0.01em; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=27487&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">One Atmosphere</a>, Arnico Pandey<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 0.01em; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=27462&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Green sticker = green light to pollute</a>, Sonam Choekyi Lama <h2>Maskmandu</h2> There are dozens of types of masks available in Kathmandu. There are cloth masks and surgical ones, some are disposable but many use replaceable filters. Prices range from Rs10 to Rs10,500. Most make various performance claims based on lab tests but factors like the mask’s fit play important roles. Take your pick, but remember the best thing is to reduce the source of pollution.  <img width="2228" height="1200" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108121148/636a42689c7e80680e04a6d1jpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="2724" height="1800" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108121148/636a426b9c7e80680e04a6d2jpeg.jpg" alt=""><h2>Costly is not better</h2> Researchers at the University of Edinburgh recently concluded that surgical masks blocked 80% of particles sized 0.007 microns. Similarly, a University of Massachusetts study found that the good old surgical mask blocked 60% of 0.03 micron particles, and over 90% of 1 micron and 2.5 micron particles. Of course, a mask’s effectiveness depends on how well it fits on the face, but a simple, disposable surgical mask can be more cost-effective than those fancy looking expensive ones.

Air pollution is more dangerous than smoking

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108121148/636a42499c7e80680e04a6c5jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="933"/><figcaption>Pic: MONICA DEUPALA</figcaption></figure>A <a href="https://airsouthasia.org/2019/06/04/nepal-air-pollution-perception-survey/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">public perception survey</a> among Kathmandu Valley residents conducted last year shows near unanimous agreement that pollution levels are bad and getting worse. The survey was conducted via social media and asked residents of Kathmandu Valley about the pollution level in their neighbourhood, their commuting habits and their perspective on actions needed to improve air quality.Carried out by Air South Asia and Clean Up Nepal, the survey results understandably show that with a few outliers, most people living inside the Ring Road found the air they breathe Bad or Very Bad. Generally, the air was considered to be cleaner the further the respondents lived from the city core. However, the perception of air pollution was worse along busy intersections outside the centre, like Chabahil, Kalanki or Koteswor.Only along the foothills, in Mata Tirtha, Budanilkantha or Changu Narayan, did people feel the air quality was better. And there was only respondent (in Godavari) among 212 interviewed who considered air quality to be Excellent.Read also:<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=27455&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">How to clean up Kathmandu’s air</a>, Anil Chitrakar<a style="background-color: #ffffff; outline: 0px; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 0.01em; font-size: 15px;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=27475&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Solution to pollution</a>, Pallavi Pant and Anobha GurungAsked to answer if air pollution had diminished their quality of life, 99% of respondents said it had. Asked how, most noted respiratory problems, chronic cough, sore throat, asthma attacks, lack of concentration and skin rashes, while other complained of clothes getting dirty. Interestingly, some included foul smell from nearby streams as ‘air pollution’, and said the stench was ‘unbearable’. Some said they did not take morning walks anymore, or venture into the streets during rush hour, and if they did, always wore masks.“Having fresh air to breathe is a human being’s most basic right and that right has been violated to an unimaginable extent in Kathmandu,” said one Naya Bazar respondent.Asked what they think are the main sources of air pollution in their area, more than 90% cited road-side dust caused by widening and delayed construction, vehicle pollution and open garbage burning. (see graph) Many noted that open spaces were shrinking, trees were being cut and plastic waste was burnt openly on streets. Outside the Ring Road, many of the complaints were about brick kilns and factories emitting smoke.Read also:<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 0.01em; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=27487&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">One Atmosphere</a>, Arnico Pandey<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=27563&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Air pollution is more dangerous than smoking</a>, Sonia Awale<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108121148/636a424c9c7e80680e04a6c6jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="889" height="810">Asked how they were coping with air pollution, most said they wear masks when outdoors and have cut down on going out for walks. Many said they now use public transport, avoid motorcycles, plant trees or take part in cleanup campaigns. Asked why they have not taken measures to reduce air pollution some said it was too large a problem and one individual’s action would not make a difference. Even those who wanted to contribute said they did not know how they could help reduce air pollution.Many were of the opinion that the government had not done enough to reduce pollution, and among their realistic and do-able suggestions for improving air quality were:Better public transportSubsidy for electric vehiclesTimely completion of road constructionTree plantingProper waste managementRelocation of brick kilns“If the dust from the roads is minimised, half the pollution problem will be solved,” felt one survey respondent in Maitidevi. However, when asked if they were satisfied with the government’s actions to date to control air pollution, a majority (84%) said they were not satisfied at all, and no one (0%) said they were satisfied to a large extent. (see chart) Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=27476&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Toxic bubble</a>, Ajaya Dixit<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=27454&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#Beat Air Pollution</a>, EditorialAccording to one resident of Bhaisepati: “The government could do lots more, but it is not willing to do anything although it has plenty of funds. They should get real experts to work on this problem.”Air pollution in Kathmandu appears to have got so bad that it is affecting people’s choice of where to live. This could ultimately reduce land prices along areas considered heavily polluted. Kathmandu residents who can afford it have already bought farms in surrounding districts, which have been sold by villagers moving in the opposite direction to Kathmandu, or abroad. Many say they are fleeing air pollution in the Valley. Indeed, some respondents even said they are thinking of relocating outside the capital, or even emigrating because of the bad air.Some, like this respondent in Thapathali, even noted that the family’s medical expenses had shot up because of medical treatment for respiratory ailments: “The air quality is getting worse compared to previous years. The air we breathe mainly contains particulates that are inhaled and affect our respiratory system. We are suffering from frequent headaches and eye irritation. We have to spend a lot of money on expensive medicines. If the air quality improved, we could use the money for recreational activities to improve our physical fitness and mental health.”Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=27462&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Green sticker = green light to pollute</a>, Sonam Choekyi Lama<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/poisoning-the-air-we-breathe/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Poisoning the air we breathe,</a> Sonia Awale

Bad Air

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0Sv3a2LjxoVehicle owners in Kathmandu need to pass an annual emission test, but many just buy Green Stickers over the counter while some even have them home delivered.Given the number of diesel buses and trucks spewing toxic black smoke in Kathmandu, it is no surprise that most drivers cheat. Lackadaisical and time-consuming inspection, corruption and the lack of political will have made a mockery of Nepal’s strict emission standards.The 2003 standards require four-wheelers registered in 1980 or before to emit carbon monoxide (CO) less than 4.5% of total gases, or not more than 1,000 parts-per-million of hydrocarbons. Vehicles registered after 1980 cannot exceed 3% of CO. If they do, they do not get a Green Sticker. It seems straightforward, but the route to getting dirty vehicles off the road is full of twists and turns.“There is no political will,” sums up the executive director of Sajha Yatayat, Bhusan Tuladhar. “If there was, this system would work perfectly.”Read also:<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 0.01em; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=27476&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Toxic bubble</a>, Ajaya Dixit<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=27563&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Air pollution is more dangerous than smoking</a>, Sonia AwaleBypassing the system by bribing inspectors is the most common method of getting a Green Sticker. A test costs Rs50, but for Rs500 middlemen will get you a sticker without a test. It is Rs1,000 to have the sticker delivered at home.There are artificial delays and queues at the Department of Transportation Management at (DoTM) Ekanta Kuna to tempt time-pressed vehicle owners to fork out Rs500 for the Green Sticker.“I don’t think keeping the vehicle in line for a week is cost-effective; why wait in a queue? It is much easier to just pay under the table,” admitted Suraj Tamang, a driver at Ekanta Kuna earlier this month.There are just two emission monitoring centres in Kathmandu Valley for more than 400,000 four-wheelers. Up to 200 vehicles visit the DoTM every day, and some eight diesel and four petrol cars fail the test daily on average, said Yam Bahadur Chhetri at the DoTM.If they cannot get the sticker under the table, drivers go to elaborate lengths to pass the test, adjusting the carburettor and then getting a garage to make it a smoke belcher again after they get the sticker. Traffic police rarely check if a car with a Green Sticker still has a smoky tailpipe.Read also:<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=27454&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#Beat Air Pollution</a>, Editorial<a style="background-color: #ffffff; outline: 0px; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 0.01em; font-size: 15px;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=27475&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Solution to pollution</a>, Pallavi Pant and Anobha Gurung<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108121148/636a42469c7e80680e04a6c4jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="786"/><figcaption>Pic: SONAM CHOEKYI LAMA</figcaption></figure>But with rising awareness about air pollution in Kathmandu and the contribution of vehicular emission, many are asking why if driving under the influence (known by its Nepali acronym MaPaSe) was so easy to control, the same cannot be done for car exhausts.“It can be like MaPaSe — some people sometimes may evade checking, but overall the system will work,” says Tuladhar, who suggests deploying police with emission testers at busy bus terminals like Ratna Park.Tuladhar says 20% of vehicles cause more than 50% of the pollution, so getting rid of half the pollution should be as simple as cleaning up 20% of the cars.But the best solution would be a strategy to switch to electric public and private transport, he adds. All two-wheelers in China are already electric, like 80% of public transport in Hong Kong, and Indian cities like Ahmedabad now have full electric public transportation.Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=27467&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bad Air</a><a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=27455&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">How to clean up Kathmandu’s air</a>, Anil Chitrakar

Green sticker = green light to pollute

<img width="1400" height="389" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108121148/636a424e9c7e80680e04a6c7jpeg.jpg" alt=""/>Air quality across Nepal has been deteriorating over the years. The average PM2.5 (concentration of particles smaller than 2.5 microns) in Kathmandu has increased from 88 to 100 µg/m3 between 1990 and 2017. The country needs a sustained and holistic long-term approach, not stop-gap measures, to control the main pollutants from <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/page/every-breath-you-take-air-pollution" target="_blank" rel="noopener">vehicular emissions</a>, waste burning, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/poisoning-the-air-we-breathe/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dust from roads</a> and construction sites, <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/earth-bricks-for-cleaner-and-healthier-kathmandu,4161" target="_blank" rel="noopener">brick kilns</a> and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/no-smoke-without-fire/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cooking with biomass</a>, not stop-gap measures.The national government has taken some action for air pollution mitigation, but most sources are linked to civic and governance issues. For example, open garbage burning as a source of air pollution can only be solved through systematic changes in waste management.Action on air pollution hinges on the availability of reliable information on trends, sources and impacts of pollution. Nepal’s national government has invested in air quality monitoring and currently there are more than 15 monitors across the country, including five real-time monitors in Kathmandu Valley.Read also:<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 0.15px; outline: 0px;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=27467&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bad Air</a><a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=27563&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Air pollution is more dangerous than smoking</a>, Sonia AwaleReal-time air quality data from these stations is available <a href="http://www.pollution.gov.np/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">online</a> but the website does not support access to historical data. The US Embassy has also set up two air quality monitoring stations in Kathmandu; its hourly results are available live on <a href="http://www.nepalitimes.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">http://www.nepalitimes.com/</a>, through the SafaHawa App. Daily averages for every week are also published in the print edition of Nepali Times, and historical data can be <a href="http://www.airnow.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">downloaded</a>. Drishti, a citizen-led, low-cost monitoring network, is active in the Valley and publishes daily air quality data.There is a growing body of scientific research on trends in air quality, sources of air pollution and possible impacts on health. Innovations are allowing access to large, open datasets, which in turn are being used to design effective policies. In line with global developments, the demand for and use of open data has grown significantly in Nepal, and organisations such as <a href="https://np.okfn.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Open Knowledge Nepal</a> are leading the charge.In India, <a href="http://www.urbanemissions.info/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Urban Emissions</a> is using government statistics available in the public domain as inputs for an air-quality forecasting project, together with satellite data and other open datasets. This is helping to raise awareness and enable cities to tackle local air pollution issues in a targeted manner. In Pakistan, availability of data on air pollution through the <a href="https://twitter.com/pakairquality?lang=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pakistan Air Quality Initiative</a> has enabled conversations around the dinner table in homes, as well as in the country’s courts, leading to proactive measures to tackle air pollution. Through a growing air quality monitoring network and other research data, Nepal is well positioned for effective action on air quality management. Credible air quality data allows advancement of critical scientific knowledge and helps design effective policies and interventions.Read also:<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=27454&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#Beat Air Pollution</a>, Editorial<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=27455&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">How to clean up Kathmandu’s air</a>, Anil ChitrakarAccess to public data on air pollution, both air quality and energy use, urbanisation patterns and transport can help improve the understanding of patterns of air pollution and influence targeted plans. Availability of data also allows evaluation of effective action to improve air quality, helping us measure our success as well as understand gaps.Availability of open data on air pollution can enhance visual storytelling, ultimately leading to community-level action and innovation. Easy availability of real-time data on air pollution in Kathmandu Valley through apps and the media can enable Nepalis to stay informed about the quality of air they breathe and ultimately help make choices that can lead to cleaner air for all.Unlike many countries facing deteriorating air quality, Nepal is a step ahead. Thanks to the successful establishment of air quality monitoring, there are now research findings about local and regional sources of pollution, seasonal patterns and possible solutions.A good foundation of data to work with has been built; all we need to do is collaborate and work towards solutions to improve air quality.   Read also:<a style="background-color: #ffffff; outline: 0px; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 0.01em; font-size: 15px;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=27487&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">One Atmosphere</a>, Arnico Pandey<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/poisoning-the-air-we-breathe/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Poisoning the air we breathe</a>, Sonia AwalePallavi Pant is an air quality scientist and works on air pollution and health issues including research and public engagement projects. Anobha Gurung is an environmental health scientist who has worked on issues related to air pollution and health in Nepal for the last 10 years. Amod Karmacharya of Cleanup Nepal also took part in the research.

Solution to pollution

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108121148/636a42639c7e80680e04a6cfjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1250" height="647"/><figcaption>Pic: ARNICO PANDAY</figcaption></figure>The global theme for this year’s World Environment Day on 5 June is air pollution — very apt in a year that saw the release of three major reports that together clarify that the causes and solutions of air pollution and climate change are intricately interconnected.This information helps citizens, researchers and policy makers perceive ‘one atmosphere’ within which short-lived climate pollutants and longer term carbon dioxide impact the air we breathe. It is within this one atmosphere also that these pollutants aggravate climate change.The flip side of the climate action coin is that <a href="https://www.google.com/url?client=internal-uds-cse&amp;cx=011870630917993763279:opm7uqsat-4&amp;q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/GUEST-COLUMN/every-breath-we-take,305&amp;sa=U&amp;ved=2ahUKEwiN6t7Awb7iAhVOinAKHRlFDFwQFjAAegQIBRAB&amp;usg=AOvVaw3_5jW6Q" target="_blank" rel="noopener">air pollution worsens our climate crisis</a>. Black carbon, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/poisoning-the-air-we-breathe/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ozone</a> and other climate-impacting pollutants contribute to additional temperature increase beyond that caused by long-lived carbon dioxide. Our glaciers are melting faster because of air pollutants. Pollutants also profoundly impact the monsoon, and several recent severe flooding events in both of Nepal’s neighbouring countries have been attributed to air pollutants modifying clouds, changing how much rain fell where and when.Read also:<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=27563&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Air pollution is more dangerous than smoking</a>, Sonia Awale<a style="background-color: #ffffff; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=27454&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#Beat Air Pollution</a>, EditorialThe IPCC’s <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5 Degrees</a>, released in October 2018, raises the alarm that concerted and rapid action is needed to avoid the catastrophic impacts of climate change that will occur if global average temperature increase exceeds 1.5C. This is the report that inspired <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/11/greta-thunberg-schoolgirl-climate-change-warrior-some-people-can-let-things-go-i-cant" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Greta Thunberg</a> and other students to go on climate strike demanding that climate emergencies be declared. As those strikes articulate, climate action must occur over the next decade or it will be too late. This will require reducing not just carbon dioxide emissions, but also short-lived climate pollutants.<a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007%2F978-3-319-92288-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Hindu Kush Himalaya Assessment</a> released in February 2019 by ICIMOD, <a href="https://www.google.com/url?client=internal-uds-cse&amp;cx=011870630917993763279:opm7uqsat-4&amp;q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/a-terrifying-assessment-of-himalayan-melting/&amp;sa=U&amp;ved=2ahUKEwjV2Ji8yr7iAhXNknAKHepBCmQQFjAAegQIAxAC&amp;usg=AOvVaw0EwrjcwqI8N" target="_blank" rel="noopener">summarises the current state of knowledge</a> about changes, vulnerabilities and risks faced by the Himalayan region, as well as opportunities in clean energy and other sectors. High mountain areas warm faster, so even a 1.5C global average temperature increase implies a 1.8C-2.2C increase in the Himalaya, with a loss of one-third of glacier volume.The Himalaya is often called the ‘Third Pole’ because it is the world’s third largest store of frozen water. But that store is dwindling rapidly, which in turn impacts water and food security. The report also describes the affects of extreme air pollution on people’s health, as well as on surface temperature, agriculture and the monsoon rains.Read also:<a style="background-color: #ffffff; outline: 0px; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 0.15px;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=27467&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bad Air</a><a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 0.01em; font-size: 15px;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=27475&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Solution to pollution</a>, Pallavi Pant and Anobha GurungFor every 100,000 people, 100-200 die from air pollution each year in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan. Out of 51 cities in the region in the WHO air quality database, 50 have air pollution levels above recommended guidelines: 12 have levels more than 10 times above the guidelines.A third assessment report points to the solutions<a href="https://ccacoalition.org/en/file/4413/download?token=cpV0d7ly" target="_blank" rel="noopener">. Air Pollution in Asia and the Pacific: Science-Based Solutions</a> was released by UN Environment in January 2019 and identified the 25 most promising measures to reduce both air pollution and climate change in Asia. These include:scaling up enforcement of vehicular emission standards and post-combustion controls in industries;implementing next-stage measures that are not yet major components of clean air policies, such as preventing forest fires, reducing burning of agricultural crop residue and improving brick kiln efficiency;setting priority goals that have benefits for the atmosphere, such as switching to clean cooking and heating, increasing power generation by renewable sources, improving public transport and reducing leakage in oil and gas production.Read also:<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=27455&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">How to clean up Kathmandu’s air</a>, Anil Chitrakar<a style="background-color: #ffffff; outline: 0px; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 0.01em; font-size: 15px;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=27462&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Green sticker = green light to pollute</a>, Sonam Choekyi LamaImplemented together by 2030, these 25 measures could allow much of Asia’s population to breathe clean air, while contributing to a reduction in average global temperature increase. The three reports provide a coherent narrative of the interconnectedness of air quality and climate issues in our region and beyond, of the cost of inaction and of available solutions.The problems and solutions of air pollution and climate change are interconnected: they are both related to human interaction with the atmosphere over a wide range of temporal and spatial scales. The challenge before us is to address these multi-sector, multi-scale issues in a coordinated manner. We can learn from others by looking at how <a href="https://www.google.com/url?client=internal-uds-cse&amp;cx=011870630917993763279:opm7uqsat-4&amp;q=https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/air-pollution-mexico-city-lessons-for-kathmandu,805&amp;sa=U&amp;ved=2ahUKEwiN6t7Awb7iAhVOinAKHRlFDFwQFjACegQIEBAB&amp;usg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mexico City</a> and Beijing have reduced their air pollution in a short time.Read also:<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 0.01em; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=27476&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Toxic bubble</a>, Ajaya Dixit<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/poisoning-the-air-we-breathe/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Poisoning the air we breathe,</a> Sonia Awale<a href="https://www.google.com/url?client=internal-uds-cse&amp;cx=011870630917993763279:opm7uqsat-4&amp;q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/Comment/air-quality-data-to-figire-out-what-to-do,841&amp;sa=U&amp;ved=2ahUKEwiN6t7Awb7iAhVOinAKHRlFDFwQFjAIegQIAxAB&amp;u" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Arnico Panday</a> is <a href="http://www.icimod.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ICIMOD</a>’s Senior Atmospheric Scientist and the coordinator of its Atmosphere Initiative.arnico.panday@icimod.org

One Atmosphere

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108121148/636a42509c7e80680e04a6c8jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="1094"/><figcaption>Pic: BIKRAM RAI</figcaption></figure>Kathmandu is the centre of everything in Nepal: power, administration, public education, tourism, hospitals. Till the late 1970s, the Valley’s built-up areas coalesced around historical settlements. After the 1990, the cities saw exponential growth, a process accelerated by war and declining agriculture in the countryside. Lack of jobs drove Nepalis first to Kathmandu and then overseas. The remittances that workers abroad sent back in turn fuelled the Valley’s real estate boom.Urbanisation, unplanned growth, lack of public transport and endemic corruption have enveloped Kathmandu Valley in a smog blanket most days. Nearly 38% of this air pollution is from vehicle emissions; other sources include dust from roads, excavations, debris of demolished buildings, construction sites, brick kilns, open burning of plastic and solid wastes, inefficient hospital incinerators, rice husk/coal/wood-burning industries, crushers and mixers, asphalt plants and metal and automobile repair units.Read also:<a style="background-color: #ffffff; outline: 0px; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 0.01em; font-size: 15px;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=27462&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Green sticker = green light to pollute</a>, Sonam Choekyi Lama<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=27455&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">How to clean up Kathmandu’s air</a>, Anil ChitrakarThe World Health Organization says the mean annual and 24-hour concentration of PM2.5 (particles smaller than 2.5 microns in diameter) in the air should be less than 10µg/m3 and 25µg/m3 respectively. In Kathmandu Valley, both parameters are much higher year-long, and the capital is among the top 10 most polluted cities in the world.Air pollutants also blow in from north India, making the problem a transboundary one. Exhaust from commercial jets and short-haul aircraft contribute too, but is overlooked. Once inhaled, the fine particulates are carried via the bloodstream to our cells, where they can cause strokes, dementia, mental retardation, pulmonary disease and cancer.The pollution is directly related to poor governance — procedural lapses, almost non-existent regulation and enforcement, and a system of national, provincial and municipal governments either incapable or too steeped in greed to deal with it.Read also:<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 0.01em; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=27487&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">One Atmosphere</a>, Arnico Pandey<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=27454&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#Beat Air Pollution</a>, EditorialThe overall outcome has been the growth of a concrete jungle without any form, aesthetics or character, with polluted water, land and air as by-products. Not only does Kathmandu have a serious air pollution problem, but its summer days are now urban heat islands because open spaces have been built over.Residents of the capital know they have a problem: they breathe it every day. Politicians and bureaucrats are also aware. Yet public outrage is not translating into action. The best way to end air pollution is to begin with its source. This year, Nepal’s petroleum import bill is likely to exceed Rs220 billion, double the amount three years ago.A year ago, the government gave a positive signal by reducing customs on the import of electric cars and buses to 10% and 1% respectively. All electric vehicles are now also exempt from annual road tax. This is not enough. Despite the tax rebate, Kathmandu has no operating electric buses because of the high upfront cost, although they bring multiple, long-term benefits: zero emissions, improved health, use of indigenous hydro energy and lower fuel import bills.Read also:<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=27563&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Air pollution is more dangerous than smoking</a>, Sonia Awale<a style="background-color: #ffffff; outline: 0px; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 0.01em; font-size: 15px;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=27475&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Solution to pollution</a>, Pallavi Pant and Anobha GurungMore than 500 electric cars and 1,500 electric scooters now use the Valley’s roads. About 12,000 e-rickshaws ply in Tarai towns. Electric transport, including charging stations, must be part of the urban future, with pedestrian walkways, bicycle lanes, open spaces and green belts as other key elements.In the meantime, the government must proactively pursue low-hanging fruit, such as requiring interagency coordination to minimise roadside dust, banning the burning of plastic and solid waste, and working with households, the private sector and citizen groups to minimise air pollution. Other immediate actions should include rigorous pollution test of vehicles and fuel quality, improving the condition of roadside workshops and making brick kilns and incinerators more efficient.These pursuits would require mapping of pollution sources, monitoring, data analysis, adaptive policies and demonstrable actions. Understanding the policies that neighbouring countries are implementing to phase out fossil-fuel vehicles is needed to avoid the risks of Nepal becoming their dumping ground.As we take these measures, let us place images of our children in front of us, as a reminder that actions taken today will save their health and that of their children.Read also:<a style="background-color: #ffffff; outline: 0px; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 0.15px;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=27467&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bad Air</a><a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 0.01em; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=27476&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Toxic bubble</a>, Ajaya DixitAjaya Dixit is Executive Director of Kathmandu based ISET-Nepal. His monthly column, Climate for Change, deals with the impact of global warming in Nepal.

Toxic bubble

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108121148/636a42439c7e80680e04a6c3jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="933"/><figcaption>Pic: BIKRAM RAI</figcaption></figure>The least we expected from this new federal republic with its elected governments at three levels and numerous institutions paid for with our tax dollars, was that they would <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/featured-videos/fictional-female-prime-minister-tackles-air-pollution-in-teleserial/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ensure we did not have to breathe toxic air</a>. Even water is secondary to air as an essential ingredient to life.Cleaning up the capital’s air should be the number one priority of the Valley’s five municipalities, the national and provincial governments. Air pollution hurts everyone, no matter how much money you have or where in the Valley you live.Hence, if we are to believe that the political leadership actually cares, clean fresh air in Kathmandu is possible. Not easy, but possible. That is unless some people are making so much money from bad air in the capital, and sharing the loot with their political masters, that they don’t want it cleaned up. But even those crooks themselves have to breathe the poisonous air they create. Read also:<a style="background-color: #ffffff; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=27476&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Toxic bubble</a>, Ajaya Dixit<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=27475&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Solution to pollution</a>, Pallavi Pant and Anobha GurungDust is the main culprit and hence, following the example of the people of Boudha, a small revolt will be required by the people, of the people and for the people who want clean air. The slogan has to be: ‘If Boudha can do it so can we.’ Over the last three decades, many good ideas have been successfully tried to tackle air pollution, but they were never scaled up for impact.Remember the electric trolley bus from Tripureswor to Bhaktapur, the conversion of diesel three-wheelers to electric ones, cheaper kerosene dyed blue to deter adulteration with diesel and petrol, green stickers on vehicle windshields (see page 6)? All these initiatives were piloted, and then just left to rot. It would take only a small push to effectively scale them up, along with monitoring to ensure no one is scamming the system.Some readers may be aware that every time you tank up at the petrol station, you pay a pollution tax for every litre of fuel. How much has been collected in nearly 30 years, and where is it stashed? Why not use it to invest in a fleet of electric buses connecting heritage sites, hospital and schools, where we could install electric vehicle charging stations?Read also:<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=27454&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#Beat Air Pollution</a>, Editorial<a style="outline: 0px;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=27467&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bad Air</a>Let us follow the money and not write another donor proposal. When The Kali Gandaki Hydroelectric Project was being negotiated in the 1980s, we imagined we could create an electric Light Rail Transit system around the Ring Road and use the revenue to repay the Asian Development Bank for the loan for the train and Kali Gandaki. We lost — diesel buses and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/poisoning-the-air-we-breathe/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">motorcycle</a> companies won. Two-wheel riders now have to put up with rain, dust, heat and choking exhaust fumes because of the government’s failure to get its priorities right.Plants need carbon dioxide, and they sequester it as carbohydrates and cellulose. Those carbohydrates become food for animals, while the cellulose props up plant structure. Many homes in Kathmandu still have a few trees left, and their owners should get annual tax rebates for caring for them or if they plant more trees.All open spaces, riverbanks and streets should be lined with fruit and flowering trees, financed by some of the taxes we pay. In 1997, all businesses along Darbar Marg contributed Rs5,000 to plant trees. There are still stone plaques on each tree with the names of donors. Today, Darbar Marg is a boulevard of purple mimosa. Trees, parks, rivers, ponds and wetlands are the lungs of the city and deserve the same treatment and care.Read also:<a style="background-color: #ffffff; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=27487&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">One Atmosphere</a>, Arnico Pandey<a style="background-color: #ffffff; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=27462&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Green sticker = green light to pollute</a>, Sonam Choekyi LamaThe city needs more cycle lanes and pedestrian streets; business will actually benefit. We Nepalis are walkers — traditionally we had to walk everywhere, carrying heavy loads. We even carried cars over mountains before we had roads. People today need to be reminded that walking is OK. At least heritage sites, parks and office areas should be made vehicle-free.<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/image/politics,305" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Brick kilns and open garbage burning</a> contribute nearly half of the air pollutants in the Kathmandu Valley. Both are easy to control. <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/brick-factories-still-using-old-polluting-technology,2078" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Brick kilns</a> can be relocated and upgraded to burn more efficiently (which is also more economical). <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/mayoral-airs/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mexico City</a> stopped open burning just by imposing fines.E-commerce and connectivity will greatly reduce the need to drive and pollute the air. This should be an integral part of cleaning Kathmandu’s skies. We pay our bills via e-Sewa now. Green Growth aggregates orders for fresh vegetables and fruits and delivers them to your home, efficiently eliminating the need for individual trips to the market. Smart Paani’s rainwater harvesting can do away with diesel tankers’ frequent trips in the city.We all know air pollution is a problem. <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/mayoral-airs/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">We all know what the solutions are</a>. We just need the political will to push them through.Read also:<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=27563&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Air pollution is more dangerous than smoking</a>, Sonia Awale<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/poisoning-the-air-we-breathe/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Poisoning the air we breathe,</a> Sonia AwaleAnil Chitrakar is the President of Siddharthinc.

Anil Chitrakar

How to clean up Kathmandu’s air

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108121148/636a423b9c7e80680e04a6c0jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="933"/><figcaption>Pic: BIKRAM RAI</figcaption></figure>The theme of World Environment Day 2019 on Wednesday 5 June is air pollution, and how to reduce it. This is not just a health issue for individuals, but one that affects the planet we live on.Research has shown that air pollution is so bad in parts of northern India, eastern China and the Kathmandu Valley that it reduces the lifespan of people by an average of four years. Even if action is taken immediately, and greenhouse gas emissions are capped, in the best-case scenario one-third of the remaining glaciers in the Himalaya will be gone this century.Whatever we do to stave off the climate crisis will take many years (beyond the lifetimes of those living today) to show results. However, action taken today to tackle air pollution can have immediate impact. Removing suspended soot particles can even reduce melting of the ice and snow in the Himalaya. The black carbon increases glacier melting by up to 20% because <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=19368#.XO5LatIza70" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dirty snow absorbs more sunlight</a>.But more importantly, cleaning up the air will make it safer to breathe, improve quality of life and reduce the cost burden on families and countries of medical treatment. The toxic miasma that used to blanket the Kathmandu Valley on winter mornings is now a year-round, 24-hour phenomenon.Read also:<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=27487&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">One Atmosphere</a>, Arnico Pandey<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=27455&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">How to clean up Kathmandu’s air</a>, Anil ChitrakarA recent survey of 200 Kathmandu residents on their perception of pollution (page 6-7) found that every respondent felt that dirty air had impacted their lives. They were aware of where the pollution was coming from: traffic, road dust, brick kilns and open garbage burning. Respondents also knew what needed to be done: improving public transport, completing road construction on time and placing emission controls on cars and <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/brick-factories-still-using-old-polluting-technology,2078" target="_blank" rel="noopener">brick factories</a>.Residents also know that public transport and public health are linked, the survey found. Politicians sometimes acknowledge that they are aware of the seriousness of the issue. So, we know what the problem is and we know the solution. Nepal just lacks the political will and an understanding of the urgency of the emergency in order to curb air pollution. In fact, Kathmandu’s dirty air is the most vivid proof available of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/open-air/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">governance failure, lack of accountability and corruption</a>.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108121148/636a423f9c7e80680e04a6c1jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="363">We thought local government elections would solve the problem because elected mayors and ward committees would be more accountable. Alas, no such luck. Nearly two years after winning polls and assuming office, local governments have been busy feathering their own nests, making recklessly unrealistic promises and lurching from one blunder to the next.Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=27467&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bad Air</a><a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=27475&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Solution to pollution</a>, Pallavi Pant and Anobha GurungKathmandu Valley’s five mayors came together last year for a conference organised by ICIMOD to hear from <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/mayoral-airs/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mexico’s ambassador to Nepal, Melba Pria</a>. She gave them a checklist of how Mexico City cleaned up its air: a strategic shift to reliable public transport, control of all open burning, improving the quality of fuel, use of catalytic converters, strict vehicular emission controls and moving smokestack industries away from the city core.The solution, therefore, has to be structural, not piecemeal. It needs vision and a plan to be responsive to the need to protect the people’s health. When greed and selfishness become part of the job description of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/featured-videos/fictional-female-prime-minister-tackles-air-pollution-in-teleserial/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">politicians</a>, it may be unrealistic to expect the public interest to suddenly take precedence. But we do not even have the luxury of waiting to clean up our politics to clean up the air. It is the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/poisoning-the-air-we-breathe/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">air we are breathing right now</a>, and it cannot wait.Elsewhere, politicians only woke up to pollution crises when they found out they were also affected. For example, when London’s Thames River had turned into a sewer 100 years ago, politicians acted only because the stink made it impossible for Parliament to sit at Westminster. And it was only when elderly politicians started dying of respiratory failure caused by pollution from coal burning that British legislators finally passed the Clean Air Act.Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=27563&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Air pollution is more dangerous than smoking</a>, Sonia Awale<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=27476&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Toxic bubble</a>, Ajaya DixitIn Kathmandu, we are already at a point where the air is so bad it could <a href="http://nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Sick-city,108" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shorten the lifespan</a> of politicians. That is when they may act, but don’t bet on it. Enlightened self-interest was never a hallmark of our rulers. As <a href="http://nepalitimes.com/article/nation/reducing-black-carbon-in-the-himalayas,2031" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Arnico Panday</a> argues on page 9, emissions of short-lived carbon pollutants like soot particles can be tackled locally. This will improve public health, save money by making more efficient use of energy and even reduce glacial melting.As we see from the survey in this issue, Kathmandu’s air pollution could now have an impact on land prices as people move to less polluted areas. It is already driving people out – some respondents say they may leave Kathmandu or even emigrate because of the bad air.The national budget presented to Parliament on Wednesday is based on classical economics; it does not take into account ecosystem services, and the need to balance economic growth with environmental protection. Air pollution in Kathmandu is a representation of this skewed policy in which the government is so dependent on vehicular taxes that it has ignored public health costs.Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=27462&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Green sticker = green light to pollute</a>, Sonam Choekyi Lama10 years ago this weekKathmandu was rocked by bombings by a Maoist faction this week, while exactly 10 years ago Hindu extremists set off a bomb inside Assumption Church in Jawalakhel, killing three people. Our editorial in edition #453 of 29 May-4 June 2009:‘The perpetrators of last week’s fatal blast at the Assumption Church in Dhobighat were terrorists, pure and simple. No religion preaches violence. No interpretation of Hinduism can justify such brutal slaughter of innocent human beings.Nepal’s Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu and other religious leaders showed unprecedented solidarity by arriving together at the church in Jawalakhel within hours of the blast. Nepal’s 10-year class war is in danger of being transformed into ethno-religious violence. Not because the people want it, not because there are genuine grievances but because certain political power centres want to use religion as an excuse to foment anarchy and violence.The lack of governance and the absence of the state is often the root cause of communal, ethnic and religious violence. That is where the treatment should begin.’<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108121148/636a42419c7e80680e04a6c2jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="1232">

#BeatAirPollution

<img width="1400" height="919" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171136/636934909c7e80680e03e002jpeg.jpg" alt=""/>NEW DELHI – A diplomat friend returning home after less than three years’ service in India, was asked at his exit medical examination how many packs a day he smoked. When he protested that he was a staunch non-smoker, the doctor commented that x-rays of his <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/lung-diseases-in-south-asia,1112" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lungs </a>showed otherwise. All he had done was breathe Delhi’s air, three smoggy winters in a row.It really is <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/open-air/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">that bad</a>. When November comes, New Delhi begins to choke on a thick blanket of smog that chokes lungs, corrodes throats, and impairs visibility. It’s not just Delhi’s notorious diesel fumes from car and truck exhausts. There are also factories spewing smoke, charcoal braziers on the sidewalks, coal stoves used by roadside vendors, and agricultural stubble burned by farmers in Punjab and Haryana. Delhi had just three ‘clean air days’ in the whole of 2017. The worst air quality is in winter, when polluted air meets winter fog and is trapped. Poor air quality is now costing India at least 1% of GDP every year in respiratory diseases, reduced productivity, and increased hospitalization, and may be reducing Indians’ lifespans by three years. According to the State of Global Air report published by the Health Effects Institute, the absolute number of ozone-related deaths in India rose by a staggering 150% from 1990 to 2015. The economic implications of deteriorating air quality are equally ominous. Welfare costs and lost labor income due to air pollution amounts to nearly 8.5% of India’s GDP. Moreover, a recent study revealed that India’s toxic air is also dissuading executives from accepting assignments in Delhi: people are turning down lucrative jobs in order to save their lungs. In 2015, the New York Times’ former South Asia correspondent, Gardiner Harris, explained that he was leaving his post prematurely because merely living in Delhi was damaging his children’s <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/poor-health/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">health</a>. Harris wrote that Delhi is ‘suffering from a dire pediatric respiratory crisis in which nearly half of the city’s 4.4 million schoolchildren have irreversible lung damage from the poisonous air’. So he picked up his kids and left India.Most Indians don’t have that choice. They must live with respirable suspended particulate matter that becomes lodged in the lungs and impairs breathing. A study of Delhi schoolchildren between four and 17 years of age found that key indicators of respiratory health and lung function were 2-4 times worse than in schoolchildren elsewhere. And the damage was irreversible.India needs to make improving air quality a national priority. It needs to create state and national action plans for <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/cleaner-air-with-greener-buses/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">clean air</a>; set tough new targets for thermal power plant emissions, factory chimneys, and automobile exhausts; and establish a proper air pollution monitoring system. And it needs to act fast. Already, 13 of the world’s 20 most polluted cities and towns are in India. More than a million Indians are dying every year because of bad air. © Project SyndicateShashi Tharoor, a former UN under-secretary-general and former Indian Minister of State for External Affairs, and author of Pax Indica: India and the World of the 21st Century.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/poisoning-the-air-we-breathe/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Poisoning the air we breathe</a>, Sonia Awale

Delhi’s deadly air

The daily 10-hour curfew at Tribhuvan International Airport from 8 November that will last five months has affected tourism during Nepal’s peak season, with some hotels and trekking agencies here reporting cancellations into spring next year. The reduced hours at Nepal’s main aviation gateway till 31 March means that a third of all flights have been cut. This has also caused ticket prices to surge by up to eight times of normal fares. For example a Kathmandu-Delhi ticket that used to cost Rs12,000 is now listed at Rs50,000, and even then seats are not available.&nbsp; “Especially if they are here to trek, change in flight dates can cause tourists to miss their connections,” says Jagan Timilsina, who runs a trail running and outdoor education business. &nbsp; Pokhara is feeling the brunt as hotels report last-minute cancellations for November because of flight disorders. Some hoteliers also say although there have been some cancelled trips, most itineraries have been rescheduled.&nbsp; Hari Prasad Sharma Gaire of the local chapter of the Hotel Association of Nepal says the Kathmandu airport closure should have been timed for the off-season. He told us: “Starting construction during the peak tourist season was a mistake and will cause the tourism industry to lose a lot of business. The upgrade could have been spread out over a longer time but closed for fewer hours at night so that disruption was minimal.”&nbsp; Nearly a third of the 1.2 million tourists who visit Nepal annually come to Pokhara, which is also the gateway to Mustang, the Annapurna treks and pilgrimage tourism to Muktinath. Located by scenic lakes with a range of adventure sports like hot air ballooning, paragliding, canyoning, bungee and ziplines, Pokhara is also popular among diaspora Nepalis. “Besides its own attractions, Pokhara is really the hub for central Nepal, and we have been trying to get visitors to extend their stay here,” says Timilsina, who started out as a trekking porter and rose up the ranks to be an expedition guide and entrepreneur. &nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024111603114_0e071ce63ea9b0a9a7ee76f8c3cea0ff08c6767c41dd09f6bc4413d2db067a60.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2024111603114_0e071ce63ea9b0a9a7ee76f8c3cea0ff08c6767c41dd09f6bc4413d2db067a60" data-rendition-name="original" width="3500" height="2333" loading="lazy" alt="Pokhara's tourism woes NT"> <figcaption>Tourist arrivals in Pokhara have slumped since the disruptions at Kathmandu airport due to upgrading work. Photo: KRISHNA MANI BARAL/NEPALI TIMES ARCHIVE</figcaption> </figure>  Even without the Kathmandu airport closure affecting tourist arrivals, Pokhara was already suffering from a decline due to many factors like the poor state of the Prithvi Highway, the shortage of luxury accommodation for high-end tourists, and the reluctance of international airlines to start direct flights to Pokhara despite an expensive new airport that was inaugurated two years ago.&nbsp; “There was a lot of initial excitement on the construction of the international airport,” says Timilsina, “but it hasn’t delivered as expected due to politics. People have invested in nearby businesses, and have faced losses.” India has blocked direct flights from its cities to Pokhara because the facility was built by a Chinese company. Although tourists and pilgrims from India hit record levels this year, the poor state of the highways and the Indian bus accident on the highway to Kathmandu in July that killed 27 pilgrims from Maharashtra state dampened arrival figures. Gaire says, “While tourist arrivals to Pokhara are now approaching pre-Covid levels, we haven’t seen the improvement we were expecting. We need a better marketing strategy. What are our embassies abroad doing?”&nbsp; Indeed, Pokhara used to be a favourite destination for Chinese tourists. There was a boom in arrivals from China before Covid, especially after a popular Chinese tv serial was shot on location here. But arrivals from China have not really recovered since the pandemic because of the economic slowdown there. Promoting Pokhara airport to handle direct flights from Chengdu or Kunming could revive Chinese arrivals.&nbsp; Nepal’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAAN) has used the Kathmandu airport closure as an excuse to arm-twist international airlines to start flying to Bhairawa, which has barely been in operation for two years since it was inaugurated. So far, Fly Dubai, Thai AirAsia, Jazeera and Qatar are flying to Bhairawa, but most use it as a hop before flying on to Kathmandu, which does not reduce congestion at Kathmandu.&nbsp; An ideal situation could have been to get Pokhara to run to full capacity while Kathmandu is partially out of action. Pokhara entrepreneurs are puzzled why the CAAN and the national government have not taken more interest in promoting Pokhara as an alternative to reduce the congestion in Kathmandu. Nepal’s football team that was flying to Dushanbe this week couldn’t get tickets via Delhi, and took a domestic flight to Bhadrapur, crossed over to Bagdogra and flew on to Delhi to catch their flight to Tajikistan.

Pokhara’s tourism woes

An excerpt of a conversation between an anthropologist and linguist Mark Turin, PhD and Lava Deo Awasthi, PhD, the first Chairperson of the Language Commission of Nepal. Nepali Times: What is the role of Nepal’s Language Commission and when was it formed? Lava Deo Awasthi: The Constitution of Nepal (2015) created a Language Commission (LC) with the following four core mandates: (a) to develop eligibility criteria for gaining status as an official language and offer recommendations to the Government of Nepal about the official language(s) in each province; (b) to offer recommendations to the Government about measures to be taken for the conservation, promotion, and development of languages; (c) to suggest possible ways of using mother tongues in education by assessing their stage of development; and, (d) to conduct studies, carry out research and perform monitoring functions about the response to the constitutional provisions for the federalisation of languages in Nepal. The Commission was founded in 2016 and I was appointed as the Chairperson of the Commission in September of the same year by the Cabinet of Ministers. What in your own professional and educational background helped to prepare you for the role? I have worked with the Government of Nepal for about 30 years, alongside holding teaching appointments at universities in Nepal. Prior to assuming the role of the Chairperson of the Commission, I served as permanent Secretary to the Government of Nepal and worked as the Chief Administrator of the Central Development Region. I was appointed as Director General of the Department of Education and completed my assignments as Joint Secretary at the Planning, Monitoring and Educational Administration Divisions of the Ministry of Education.&nbsp; In addition, I have taught courses as a visiting professor at Tribhuvan University and Kathmandu University for more than three decades. Later, I also started supervising MPhil and PhD students at the Far Western University in Mahendranagar, Kanchanpur. My PhD project from the Danish University of Education was dedicated to making sense of Nepal’s social construct and commitment to multilingualism, exploring the persistence of monolingual school practices in the face of constitutional promises and state commitments to multilingualism. I conducted a survey of Nepal’s languages and carried out a qualitative study of the Tharu language in the district of Bardia. I analysed language policy statements and explored classroom pedagogies in schools. I documented how teachers showed a tendency to resist change and maintain the status quo because they were not consulted when new educational language policies were introduced. Teachers also exhibited a deeply-held adherence to the Gurukul education system which appears to have been harnessed as a way to resist newer pedagogical ideologies imported from the West. Recognising how engrained these rich traditions of knowledge transmission are, I wanted to know how students’ engagement in the learning process appeared to have dwindled, creating a gap between children’s home languages and the language(s) of the school. Whilst statutory provisions for education in the mother tongue were oriented towards promotion, classroom pedagogies remained resolutely monolingual and exclusionary. The result was that multilingual education policies that had been introduced in Nepal did not result in meaningful changes in classroom practices. My research was also a reflection of childhood traumas I had experienced at the earliest stage of formal education. My home language, Baitadeli, has a strong oral tradition and no written literature. English is my fifth language in terms of exposure and competence, and my home district of Baitadi is well-known for its loyalty to the local language. I had to drop out of school after completing my sixth grade. Staying at home, I received much attention from my family and had much greater exposure to my native language, culture and environment. My overall impression is that dropping out of school had a surprisingly positive impact on my life. The opportunity offered a surprising dividend for me as I gained mastery in my mother tongue and received extensive exposure to folk literature and Indigenous knowledge and survival skills, cultivating my interest in language, culture, literature and local cosmologies.&nbsp; Now that I reflect on it, I appreciate how language has always played a key role in my life. I grew up in a multilingual environment: brought up with Baitadeli, Hindi, Sanskrit, Nepali and English. Language played a major part in my decision to leave school and my later success is closely linked to my competence in several languages. It was rewarding to be at home with my family as I deepened my understanding of native language and culture, which in turn helped me to harness and refine my art of living. Languages matter so much to me because they are both software and hardware. Later, when I was in secondary school, I realised that my command of my home language contributed significantly to enhancing my Nepali and English. I used my mother tongue as a form of linguistic capital to strengthen my competence in both English and Nepali.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024111811110_5400ba54792bf9e4854e1c1effde8bf09804e99647f23513700b450cc49adc4a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2024111811110_5400ba54792bf9e4854e1c1effde8bf09804e99647f23513700b450cc49adc4a" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="1500" loading="lazy" alt="Dr Lava Deo Awasthi"> </figure>  In your term as the Commission’s first Chairperson, what were your strategic goals and objectives? My first strategic goal was to create an environment conducive to implementing the provisions of the Constitution of Nepal in relation to language. My priority was to prepare a detailed action plan for my six-year tenure in consultation with language stakeholders, including language experts, professionals, activists, Indigenous community members and representatives of relevant national and local-level institutions. The Commission formed a body of high-level advisors to ensure that the Chairperson’s work was well-informed and credible. The advisors to the committee had highly visible professional and social reputations in Nepal and had much experience in the field of language conservation, promotion, research and development. Another strategy we adopted was to establish close institutional linkages with federal, provincial, and local level governments for collecting opinions and disseminating information widely.&nbsp; What critical issues did you have to consider while discharging your duty? When Nepal’s new Constitution was drafted, a number of concerns could not be adequately addressed. These related to the conservation of languages, the recognition of official languages at the provincial level, and the use of mother tongues at federal, provincial, and local levels. These unresolved issues and matters pertaining to the federalizsation of Nepal’s languages were passed on to the Language Commission to address and resolve.&nbsp; Regarding the recommendations for official languages, a five-year timeline had been set by the Constitution. With great effort, we succeeded in having all provinces agree to recognise their official languages as per the recommendations of the Commission.&nbsp; What were your greatest achievements during your term? One of the greatest achievements was that we succeeded in setting a language agenda at all levels. Nepal’s language communities and other stakeholders expressed the view that this was the first time their languages were recognised and their voices heard by the state. People participated in debates and discussed issues relating to language that in all likelihood had never before happened in their lifetimes, at least not in ways that were supported by the state. We encouraged people to speak in their own language(s) and provided translators during plenary sessions and group discussions. Another major achievement was developing criteria for the status planning of languages at federal, provincial, and local levels, and to recommend 11 province-level official languages, in addition to the Nepali language. Similarly, a notable achievement was recognising Indigenous languages spoken by smaller communities, all of whom faced ongoing marginalisation and high levels of endangerment. The Commission identified 9 new languages that had not been reported in the 2011 census, and provided a framework for recognising official languages within a municipality. The commission emphasised the need for documentation and digitisation of languages for developing corpora and archives at national and sub-national levels.&nbsp; Languages of historical importance as well as classical languages were given recognition for their protection, growth, and development. Recommendations were made for the conservation, promotion and development of Nepal’s marginalised languages that are threatened by majority languages and for those languages that hold particular power at local and global levels. Recommendations were also made for how best to safeguard Nepal’s languages from the ever-growing spread of English and other powerful, globalising languages.&nbsp; A further important aspect of the Commission’s work was to emphasise mother tongue medium instruction in schools across the nation. Recognising the role of language in children’s cognitive, socio-emotional and academic development, the Commission suggested strategies for linking schools with ward-level language clusters for use in the classroom. The importance of nurturing and respecting a child’s first language was reiterated in the Commission’s recommendations for children’s learning and all-round development. By the end of my term, a remarkable change could be observed in terms of building trust within and across Nepal’s diverse language communities. A network of language groups and stakeholders across the country proved to be a powerful way of bringing all language communities under one roof for a collective review of and response to the process of federalising language policy. The many language stakeholders across Nepal appreciated the opportunity to work within a coordinated framework, and—feeling empowered by this—seemed genuinely enthusiastic about the initiatives taken by the Commission.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024111811114_b45297fdd2fedf17bdb6313e495a1062c0d87f1a19fa5349f871f220b75f93ab.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2024111811114_b45297fdd2fedf17bdb6313e495a1062c0d87f1a19fa5349f871f220b75f93ab" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Dr Lava Deo Awasthi NT"> </figure>  What were the most significant challenges for you as Chairperson? One of the major challenges was winning people’s trust in advocating for the mission of the Language Commission. I faced considerable resistance as I sought to emphasise the use of native languages in families and communities. While the Commission advocated for multilingualism and promoted linguistic diversity, the prevailing policy circles and central level institutions had been deeply influenced by a one-language discourse and ideology of Nepali only. The spread of English also poses a huge threat to Nepal’s languages. However, people in power do not seem to see this as a problem. They tend to abandon their own languages in preference for English. The way that Nepal’s municipalities are increasingly introducing English as a medium of instruction at the earliest stage of a child’s school-based education has proven to be detrimental to their cognitive development, socio-emotional wellbeing and academic success. Most of Nepal’s elites have been heavily influenced by the spread of English and remain unaware about its impact on their home languages as well as on the inter-generational transmission of Indigenous languages in the country. I wish that we could have produced more compelling evidence to show the consequences of making poor policy choices for our children’s education. Demystification calls for a collective response. To make change happen across this entire, complex and federalising country was daunting work and left like a race against time. I feel that I could have done more to offer concrete examples in favour of using the mother tongue as a medium of children’s education at the earliest stages of a child’s education. What do you see the Language Commission achieving in the next 5-10 years? The Language Commission will have to ensure that all of its key recommendations are implemented at all levels of government. In 10 years’ time, all seven of Nepal’s provinces will have their official languages in place. These languages will also be recognised as languages of federal business, alongside Nepali. I anticipate that all official languages in the federal and provincial systems will have a national portal for inter-language corpora using machine translation to fulfil their federal, provincial and local level language functions, and that all languages spoken in Nepal will be represented through a digital database in the national archive. The Office of Statistics will monitor the status of Nepal’s languages over time. By the end of the next decade, each municipality in the country will have recognised one or two official languages at the local level, based on speech populations. Other local languages will have received community-level legal recognition and official status to fulfil their functional roles. Languages that are highly endangered or at risk will be entitled to receive state grants for enhancing local level capabilities to encourage families and young learners to speak the language. Incentive schemes will be introduced in municipalities that promote language within the family and at home. Inter-generational transmission of languages will have received welcome and timely attention across Nepal. It is my hope that all schools—public and private—will have introduced mother tongue medium instruction at the earliest stage of school education, at least up to class five. Nepali, English and other national as well as classical and foreign languages will be taught as subjects. The existing policy of English medium education at the early stage of education will be abolished. The Government of Nepal will be held accountable if the number of speakers of any language decreases or if local communities face language loss and greater endangerment. Under the aegis of the Language Commission, a Centre for Language Research and Innovation will be created with world-class facilities for language documentation and archiving in collaboration with Tribhuvan University’s Central Department of Linguistics and other relevant institutions. Harnessing the vastness of Nepal’s linguistic diversity, the Language Commission will morph into a centre of excellence for national and international communities to engage in collaborative language research, to share experiences and document best practices at in service of global linguistic diversity and Nepal’s many Indigenous languages.

Languages are both software and hardware

Nearly 750,000 Nepalis went abroad for employment in the past year, and more than 100,000 left on student visas. Most of them were young Nepali men and women, and the number has been increasing every year. As with other sections of society, Nepal’s security agencies also face a recruitment crisis. Nepal Police opened recruitment for 64 inspectors in September, and received 2,239 applications, compared to 2,718 candidates last year. Police also invited candidates for 256 assistant sub-inspectors this year for which it received 17,756 applications – down from 19,932 last year. It is the same story in the Nepal Army, the number of applicants for the post of Officer Cadet (Second Lieutenant) went down from 6,144 for 400 open seats in 2019 to 4,390 in 2020. Meanwhile, applicants in the paramilitary Armed Police Force went down from 857 applications for 75 posts in 2021 to 536 applicants for 99 posts last year. While the number of applicants appears higher than the demand, the data shows a significant decrease in applications for vacancies in Nepal’s law enforcement agencies. Security personnel are recruited on the basis of rank and age in Nepal, and the age cutoff for entry into Nepal’s security agencies is typically 25 years. Sociologist and migration expert Ganesh Gurung says that the demographic of young, physically fit Nepalis emigrating abroad in search of better opportunities has impacted recruitment into law enforcement and the military here at home. “The returns from working in Nepal’s police and army are minimal, whereas overseas job opportunities are more attractive,” Gurung says. “The work may be physically demanding abroad, but the pay is a lot higher.”  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241116041148_a7e477e0ee2f56acf16c2559fdb24d8f0377f7bc1f9e56138bc40108fc4fa33f.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20241116041148_a7e477e0ee2f56acf16c2559fdb24d8f0377f7bc1f9e56138bc40108fc4fa33f" data-rendition-name="original" width="800" height="534" loading="lazy" alt="Nepal Police"><figcaption>Nepal Police</figcaption></figure>  Nepal Police spokesperson DIG Dan Bahadur Karki agrees that the physical and mental demands of a law enforcement job is incomparable to the income that security personnel earn. “A young Nepali who works in Dubai earns enough to build a home in the village within four years, while a Nepali with the same qualifications and physical ability in a security agency here barely makes enough to survive,” says Karki. “Obviously the youth prefer foreign employment.” Security agencies are now worried about the quality of inducted manpower. “There is a difference in work ethic between an applicant chosen from a competitive pool of 50 candidates versus one chosen from a pool of three candidates,” explains Gurung. “Unmotivated employees hamper the overall performance of the state apparatus.” Nepal Army spokesperson Brigadier General Gaurab Kumar KC says recruitment has not been hampered by outmigration: “We have still been getting more than three times the applicants than there are open posts, so we are not yet worried.” Even so, the passing rates of aspirants have gone down for security forces after the Public Service Commission began examinations for military recruitment in 2015. In fact, the Nepal Army complained about the Commission’s involvement in recruitment. Still, the number of vacant military posts tends to exceed the number of passing candidates. Nepal Army’s KC says that the military will not compromise on intake criteria even if there are fewer passing applicants. “Unqualified persons will not be admitted even if there are less-than-required passing candidates. We will re-advertise if that is the case.” But Nepal’s security forces now also have to worry about retention of existing personnel. About 900 Nepal Army, 600 Nepal Police, and 300 Armed police personnel resign every year before the completion of their tenure.  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241116041148_b8cd62f70eea3aac7d3d3778615a5b70b1e20550c9bd76321f051f9c766fd2a9.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20241116041148_b8cd62f70eea3aac7d3d3778615a5b70b1e20550c9bd76321f051f9c766fd2a9" data-rendition-name="original" width="750" height="378" loading="lazy" alt="Armed police forces"><figcaption>Armed Police Force</figcaption></figure>  In 2020, Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa recalled almost 1,000 police personnel who had been deployed for the security of VIPs after long-standing criticism that security forces were being misused to cater to political and bureaucratic leadership. However, security personnel have continued to be assigned to high-ranking officials as glorified housekeepers. In December 2022, Rabi Lamichhane’s Home Ministry had instructed its offices to recall unauthorised security personnel assigned to high-ranking officials, following which 500 officers from Nepal Police and Armed Police Force were withdrawn from their details. But the Nepal Army does not have to follow such rules, and the practice of army personnel serving high-ranking active-duty and retired military personnel remains. Conditions here are dire enough that many active duty officers in Nepal’s military and police forces have chosen to leave their jobs to serve in the Russian Army to fight in the Ukraine war. The hierarchical culture and chain of command of politics, bureaucracy, law enforcement and military has also meant that abuse and mistreatment of subordinates is rife in Nepal’s security forces. “Feudalism is alive and well within our security institutions,” says Gurung. “When soldiers and security forces who swore to protect and serve the nation are made to be at the beck and call of politicians and bureaucrats, it is easy to understand why they are disillusioned with their jobs and why they choose to quit and find jobs abroad.”

Job insecurity in security forces

Earlier this month, Nepal received Rs1.6 billion from the World Bank as part of its <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/will-nepal-ever-be-paid-for-saving-trees">Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF)</a>, rewarding the country for increasing its carbon sink capacity. Nepal is the first in South Asia to benefit from this facility, and it is specifically to recompense the country for increasing forest cover in 13 Tarai districts between 2018-2024. “We are also trying to get another Rs13 billion from the facility while also preparing for free market-based carbon trading in the international market,” says Nabaraj Pudasaini of the REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries) Implementation Centre. Big emitters of greenhouse gases are under pressure to reduce their carbon emissions, and many have signed agreements to do so by investing in decarbonisation projects in developing countries. Countries that emit more than a specified amount of carbon would be able to buy emission rights from countries that emit less. Nepal is internationally known for its community forestry program which has been largely credited for <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/tree-mendous">increasing tree cover to over 45%</a> in less than three decades. But this achievement had not been adequately recognised or rewarded internationally before. Forests, especially in the tropics, absorb and store large amounts of carbon while releasing oxygen in a process known as photosynthesis. <a href="https://www.fao.org/forest-resources-assessment/en/">Preventing deforestation</a> and increasing canopy cover is considered a much more achievable goal than reducing emission in the scale necessary to limit global average temperature to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. COP11 in Montreal in 2005 first proposed reducing carbon emissions by improving forest quality by halting degradation. By 2015, a new mechanism of financial assistance was created to help less developed countries with sustainable management of forests <a href="https://www.un-redd.org/">(called REDD+)</a>. Under this new mechanism, countries receive aid based on their efforts to prevent forest degradation and increase carbon sink, and in 2021 the World Bank was entrusted with implementing it. Nepal’s FCPF receipt this month was calculated on the basis of 2.4 million tons of carbon stored at a rate of $5 per ton. In the second phase, Nepal will receive more than Rs4 billion within the next year for storing an additional 7 million tons of carbon. Eighty per cent of this amount obtained from carbon trading needs to be spent on local beneficiaries and indigenous communities.&nbsp; But carbon trading is not easy, Nepal needs to prove that protected forests will not be destroyed in future.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241121091132_c8a381c9a95aa86fec558951650d97bb87914741f01766982ba2b086af001f16.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20241121091132_c8a381c9a95aa86fec558951650d97bb87914741f01766982ba2b086af001f16" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="999" loading="lazy" alt="Greenbacks for greenery NT "> <figcaption>Photo: KUNDA DIXIT</figcaption> </figure>  Explains carbon trading expert Yugan Manandhar. “Forests should be handed over to the community and shown that they are managed sustainably. Proving this will be particularly challenging; forest encroachment and degradation is rife in the Tarai.” <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/nepal-is-going-up-in-smoke">Deliberate forest fires</a> have also added to the challenge because they increase carbon emissions and reduce the sink capacity of forests. The basis for the amount that Nepal received was set five years ago by calculating the carbon reserves of forests in the 13 Tarai districts. In the meantime, sustainable forest management, tree plantation, forest destruction and erosion control were prioritised to increase carbon reserves in those forests. Nepal is signing another carbon trading agreement during the ongoing Baku climate conference. The <a href="https://www.leafcoalition.org/">Lowering Emissions by Accelerating Forest finance (LEAF Coalition) </a>proposes to sell the carbon stored in the forests of Bagmati, Gandaki and Lumbini provinces. For this, Nepal signed the letter of intent three years ago at COP26 in Glasgow. The target is to store 70 million tons of carbon in 32 million hectares of forest in the three provinces per which Nepal will receive Rs13 billion in four years at $10 per ton with provisions to increase the rate if various conditions are met. However, the agreement in itself doesn’t guarantee the amount. According to the targets set by Nepal, forest degradation should be stopped and carbon reserves increased by protecting tree cover. Preparations are also underway for clean air carbon trade because it has offset fossil fuel use by introducing 30,000 electric vehicles. Nepal has been selected for the first round to receive $40 million within one and a half years through the Clean Air System of the World Bank. Given that most of Nepal’s energy mix is from biomass, replacing them with electric stoves can significantly improve health by reducing indoor pollution as well as strengthen the country’s capacity for carbon trade. “Nepal's goal now is to sell carbon in the free market where carbon credits are bought and sold based on supply and demand in an open and transparent manner,” adds Pudasaini of the REDD Implementation Centre. “Nepal can now set its own price and bargain with interested buyer countries and organisations.” Lately, India has been discussing setting up a carbon market. Nepal has exported Rs12.72 billion worth of electricity to India so far this fiscal year, which can be traded under Nepal’s carbon market. “Carbon trading can create significant economic benefits for Nepal, which will help reinvest in development and environmental protection projects,” says Manandhar. “But we must prioritise sustainable management of forests, cutting older trees and allowing regrowth as well as promoting electric stoves and electric vehicles.”