Report 

Number: R02
 
A 
REPORT 
ON 
AIR POLLUTION IN KATHMANDU VALLEY

 
SUBMITTED BY:  
BIBEK KHANAL
ENGINEER 

INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING
PULCHOWK CAMPUS
LALITPUR, NEPAL 

JULY 9, 2021 

i
 Report Number: R02

A 
REPORT 
ON
AIR POLLUTION IN KATHMANDU VALLEY
 
SUBMITTED TO: 
KRISHNA POKHREL
CHIEF ENGINEER
MINISTRY OF ENERGY
SINGHDURBAR, KATHMANDU
 
SUBMITTED BY:
BIBEK KHANAL 
 ENGINEER 
 
APPROVED BY:
RESHAM ADHIKARI
SENIOR ENGINEER
INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING
PULCHOWK CAMPUS
LALITPUR, NEPAL

 
JULY 9, 2021

ii
 PREFACE

The quality of air in any area must satisfy the standard limit set by the World Health
Organization (WHO) or national standard. This report presents the information collected from
different sources such as newspaper, magazines, different research articles etc. This report also
contains the real footage to show the present condition of air pollution in Kathmandu valley.
Our team is doing this project taking a determination to eradicate the air pollution in Kathmandu
valley. It is not to easy control the air pollution directly in Kathmandu valley. Due to poor urban
management, infrastructures, a growing number of vehicles, polluting industries and pollution
growth, the quality of air in Kathmandu valley is getting deteriorated day by day. We are
launching awareness program among the area people about the adverse effect caused by air
pollution. The main purpose of this report is to aware the people about air pollution and
encourage them to minimize air pollution.

Author
Er. Bibek Khanal

iii
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

It is my immense pleasure to acknowledge the contribution made by various people in the

preparation of this report. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all those helping hands
who provided me technical support to complete this report. I wish to express my sincere
appreciation and profound gratitude to our final year project manager Mr. Avishek Sharma who
helped me to coordinate my project.
Furthermore, I would like like to acknowlwdge with much appreciation to the staff of
‘MAHANAGAR KARYALAYA’,who gave me the permission to use all the equipments and
necessary materials to complete the task of measuring quality of different air samples from
different places of Kathmandu Valley. I would also like to thank our workers who are giving
their best for this work. Last but not least, many thanks goes to the head of project, Mr. Sabin
Koirala who has invested his full effort in guiding the team to achieve the goal. I would also like
to appreciate the guidence given by other supervisiors as well as the panels espicially in our
project presentation. I express my sincere thanks to my friends and the local people for their
support.

iv
 ABSTRACT

The report addresses the present scenario of air pollution in Kathmandu valley, its causes as well
as threats to human health. Air pollution has been a burning issue of 21st century for developed
as well as developing countries. It has a negative impact on various environmental aspects which
directly or indirectly affect the quality of human health. Nepal, especially Kathmandu has
observed rapid urbanization and various infrastructure development projects in the current
situation. As a result, these sorts of human activities have become responsible for increasing air
pollution in an enormous rate inside Kathmandu Valley. Chronic exposure of deteriorated air
increases the chance of various short term as well as chronic respiratory disorders. It’s not easy
to control air pollution directly in Kathmandu valley. Due to poor urban management, rapidly
developing infrastructures, growing number of vehicles, polluting industries and population
growth, the quality of air inside Kathmandu valley is getting deteriorated day by day. The report
suggests government, concerned authorities and local people of Kathmandu valley to realize the
consequences of air pollution and seek for proper solution for the prevention of air pollution in
Kathmandu valley.

v
 Table of Contents
PREFACE.................................................................................................................................................iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT........................................................................................................................iv
ABSTRACT...............................................................................................................................................v
LIST OF TABLE......................................................................................................................................vi
1. INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................................1
2. DISCUSSION.........................................................................................................................................2
2.1 Status of air pollution in Kathmandu valley..................................................................................2
2.2 Causes of air pollution.....................................................................................................................2
2.3 Threats of air pollution to human health.......................................................................................3
3. CONCLUSION......................................................................................................................................3
4. RECOMMENDATIONS......................................................................................................................4
APPENDIX................................................................................................................................................4
References...................................................................................................................................................6
GLOSSARY/ ABBREVIATIONS............................................................................................................7

LIST OF TABLE

Table 1: Monthly average value of PM2.5, PM10 and TSPM in 3 different stations of Kathmandu
valley...........................................................................................................................................................4

vi
vii
 1. INTRODUCTION

Kathmandu valley is situated at an altitude of 1,350 meters. It experiences all four

seasons with the maximum temperature of 32°C in summer and minimum temperature of 0°c in
winter. Average rainfall is 1,307mm per year with 90% of the precipitation occurring during the
four months of June to September. Due to diverse opportunities, facilities and urban glamour,
Kathmandu has become a center of attraction for people from all over the country. Kathmandu
has a population density of 13,225 per km2 [1] as of data recorded by Central Bureau of
Statistics in 2011, with population growth rate of 4.78%. The valley is surrounded by high
mountains ranging from 2000 to 2800 meters from sea level[ CITATION Pan09 \l 1033 ]. Due to
this, the valley has a unique bowl-shaped topographic structure which restricts the movement of
wind thereby retaining the pollutants in the air[CITATION KPa16 \l 1033 ]. This has made the valley
particularly vulnerable to air pollution.

Kathmandu valley has slowly and gradually turned into the city of pollution. The pristine
blue hills and the crisp blue sky that covered the valley just about two decades ago now appear
gray and hazy due to the stagnant smog that hovers over them. The history of air pollution can be
identified with the development of road networks and different types of automobiles. Common
sources of air pollution are household combustion devices, motor vehicles, industrial facilities,
and forest fires. Air pollution is a complex mixture of thousands of components, majority of
which include airborne Particulate Matter (PM) and gaseous pollutants like ozone (O3), nitrogen
dioxide (NO2), volatile organic compounds (like benzene), carbon monoxide (CO), sulfur
dioxide (SO2), etc. Total Suspended Particulate Matter (TSPM) is the main cause of air
pollution in the valley. Particulate Matter (PM10) is that suspended particle that is about 10µm in
diameter and mainly arises from the poor quality roads, construction sites, and farms and is
responsible for causing irritation in eyes, nose, and acute respiratory infections[ CITATION CDC17 \l
1033 ]. In the winter reason, effect of pollution is more serious because during night, cooling of
atmosphere cause the formation of inversion layer which acts as lid to trap pollution.
Rapid unmanaged urbanization in the capital city has resulted in a significant
deterioration of air quality. Vehicular emissions from poorly managed vehicle, re-suspension of
street dust and litter, black smoke plumes from brick kilns and refuse burning are the other
sources contributing to increased air pollution in the valley. Private vehicles are increasing in
comparison to public transport vehicle. Due to lack of an efficient public transport system, many
residents have chosen to buy private vehicle. Emissions from vehicles are particularly toxic as
diesel powered vehicles, which are considered deadly pollutant and carcinogen, are more
numerous than the petrol powered ones. This fact agrees with the report of WHO where it has
stated that low and middle income countries suffer superfluously from transport generated
pollution due to old and inefficient diesel powered vehicles [CITATION WHO17 \t \l 1033 ] . Along
with the rapid and uncontrolled urbanization and haphazard developmental projects, people are
being victimized with serious airborne diseases.
 2. DISCUSSION

2.1 Status of air pollution in Kathmandu valley

The current Environmental Performance Index of Nepal in terms of air quality has been
ranked as 178th out of 180 countries[CITATION Env20 \l 1033 ]. Kathmandu has been ranked as the
most polluted city) in the world[CITATION htt21 \l 1033 ]. According to a report of World Health
Organization (WHO), the maximum status of fine Particulate Matter (PM 2.5) in urban areas of
Nepal was noted to be 140 µg/m3 which is 10 times higher than the desirable value[ CITATION
WHO14 \l 1033 ]. Till now, the Department of Environment has established 3 stations inside
Kathmandu Valley and 7 stations outside the valley.

Meteorological variables showed great day-to-day similarity, with a strong westerly wind
blowing through the valley from late morning until dusk. It was found that the air mass on
nearby mountaintops was disconnected from pollution within the valley during the night but
received significant pollution during the morning, when up-slope flows began. At a pass on the
western edge of the valley diurnal switch was in wind direction with an inflow from late morning
until late evening, and an outflow during the rest of the time. The part of the morning peak in
pollution was caused by recirculation of pollutants emitted the night before, which spend the
night in elevated layers over the valley [ CITATION Pan09 \l 1033 ] It was found that the stable layer
and calm condition in the atmosphere strongly affected the appearance of maximum
concentration of NO2 and suspended particulate matter in the morning and unstable layer and
windy condition in the atmosphere was considerably relevant to the decrease of concentration of
air pollutants at day time[ CITATION Aki05 \l 1033 ].

2.2 Causes of air pollution

Major cities of Nepal are now considered unhealthy due to increase in population,
unplanned urbanization and industrial and vehicular emissions and so on. Beside these factors,
improper implementation of policies and programs are also driving forces contributing to
increase air pollution in Kathmandu valley[ CITATION Kar16 \l 1033 ].

Subsequent increase in number of vehicles is one of the main culprits of air

pollution [ CITATION Jos03 \l 1033 ]. Kathmandu Valley has seen a rapid increase in vehicle
numbers in the last 15 years. Data have shown that in 2000/1, number of registered vehicles was
24,003 and by 2015/16 it has increased to 7, 79,822. This shows an increment by more than 32
times in the last one and a half decade [ CITATION Sau18 \l 1033 ] . The trend of purchasing new
vehicle is also seen to be increasing as the year 2015/16 sees the largest number of registered
vehicles[ CITATION DoT17 \l 1033 ]. Private vehicles are increasing in comparison to public
transport vehicle. Due to lack of an efficient public transport system, many residents have chosen
to buy private vehicle. Emissions from vehicles are particularly toxic as diesel powered vehicles,
which are considered deadly pollutant and carcinogen, are more numerous than the petrol

2
powered ones[ CITATION Sau18 \l 1033 ]. This fact agrees with the report of WHO where it has
stated that low and middle income countries suffer superfluously from transport generated
pollution due to old and inefficient diesel powered vehicles[CITATION WHO17 \t \l 1033 ].

Besides vehicles, brick kilns, unplanned expansion of roads, ill-managed dumping of

building materials on the busy road sides, and the old engine vehicles that race incessantly on the
pothole laden roads are adding insult to injury[ CITATION Sau18 \l 1033 ]. Gasoline, fuelwood
and coal were the dominant fuel contributors to total emissions and CO was the dominant
pollutant in Kathmandu valley[ CITATION Shr96 \l 1033 ].

2.3 Threats of air pollution to human health

Among environmental factors, air pollution is identified to be a major threat to human

health.  It has been found that, with high level of air pollution exposure, Nepal, especially
Kathmandu, is suffering from a potentially serious human health burden from air
pollution[ CITATION Gur17 \l 1033 ] . Globally, unhealthy environment causes a total of 12.6
million deaths and air pollution is solely responsible for 7 million deaths annually [CITATION
WHO171 \t \l 1033 ] . In Nepal, the common diseases like respiratory illness, allergy, and eye
infection and chronic diseases like lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD),
ischaemic heart disease (IHD) and stroke are present in an alarming rate due to air pollution.
Data of Global Health Observatory (GHO) for mortality from ambient air pollution in Nepal in
2012 shows a threatening rate of 9,944 deaths of which ischaemic heart disease (IHD) caused the
highest death rate of 33.4% followed by stroke 32%, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
(COPD) 17.8%, lung cancer 9.3%, and Acute Lower Respiratory Tract Infection 7.4% [ CITATION
Sau18 \l 1033 ]. Excessive exposure and inhalation of particulate matter less than 2.5 micrometers
in diameter (PM2.5), carbon monoxide (CO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) can lead to upper and
lower respiratory tract infections in children and can cause chronic health impacts in
adults[ CITATION Kar16 \l 1033 ] . Air pollution has long been regarded as a silent killer responsible
for causing a variety of chronic and infectious diseases. A study done in hospitalized patients of
various hospitals of Kathmandu valley shows the high prevalence of respiratory diseases. Among
the diseases, COPD was the most prevalent one with a significant proportion of other diseases
too[ CITATION Sau18 \l 1033 ].
Air pollution is rising as an occupational hazard in Nepal, both in Kathmandu and in
other cities like Pokhara, especially in traffic police who are being continuously exposed to dusty
roads[ CITATION Bha152 \l 1033 ] . Due to this pulmonary functions have been significantly
worsened in the traffic police working in Kathmandu[ CITATION Shr15 \l 1033 ]. Airborne
occupational hazards are equally present in brick kiln workers and grocery workers in
Kathmandu, whose health has been seriously hampered and needs quick action for
protection[ CITATION San16 \l 1033 ].

3
 3. CONCLUSION

Air pollution has become a serious issue to the residents of Kathmandu valley,
threatening the lives of thousands of people of every year. The scenario is obvious to worsen in
the coming years if immediate preventive measures are not taken in time. It is of utmost urgency
to educate the common people on harmful aspects of air pollution and the necessary precautions
to prevent its deadly consequences. The solution to air pollution can be achieved only when the
government takes the leading role in addressing the situation. National health policy of Nepal has
included air pollution as a priority research/public health agenda but implementation part has not
been effective.

4. RECOMMENDATIONS

Nepal government has been formulating policies to control environmental pollution since
the 1990s, but the implementation of the legislatives has not been effective. Several committees
and task forces have been formulated to curb the issue but no concrete solution has been met. In
this regard, the government should mainly focus on implementation of policies and programs to
reduce air pollution. Morever, public should be aware of the negative impact of air pollution.
Sufficient study regarding air quality of urban and suburban regions should be done. Sufficient
study should be done to find out short and long term effects, seasonal patterns, geographical
variations and other issues of air quality affecting human health.

APPENDIX

Table 1: Monthly average value of PM2.5, PM10 and TSPM in 3 different stations of
Kathmandu valley

Stations Months Parameters

PM2.5 PM10 (µg/m3) Total suspended
(µg/m3) particulate matter (µg/m3)
Ratnapark January 80.86 108.1 136.37
February 79.8 112.4 141.2
March 45.12 87.08 200.78
April 67.16 270.52 714.89
May 42.35 120.59 350.75
June 29.08 98.59 306.9
July 18.5 59.7 209
August 15.91 41.48 142.14
September 24.67 64.22 202.37
October 25.01 50.62 134.39
November 30.22 48.21 106.7

4
 December 41.2 46.83 53.36
Pulchowk January 69.61 82.09 100.1
February 68.4 82.65 96.99
March 50.49 64.1 74.01
April 45.64 58.1 69.06
May 30.07 38.63 43.68
June 16.63 19.83 21.05
July 6.07 6.73 7.27
August 6.74 7.24 7.53
September 7.73 8.07 9.09
October 12.04 12.38 13.03
November 17.67 18.22 18.67
December 24.58 25.52 26.28
Bhaisepati January - - -
February - - -
March - - -
April - - -
May - - -
June - - -
July - - -
August - - -
September 40.72 59.18 144.37
October 37.4 69.93 219.24
November 47.85 91.1 249.98
December 59.93 111.5 272.75

( Source: CBS, 2019)

5
References

Akira, C., Akikazu, K., Kiyoshi, I., Yoshio, I., Masahiko, S., Shrestha, M. L., & Sapkota, B.
(2005). Investigation of air pollution concentration in Kathmandu valley during winter
season. IOS Press Content Library, 1008-1013.
Bhandari, A., Gautam, R., & Bhandari, S. (2015). Knowledge and Practice on Prevention of
Respiratory Health Problems among Traffic Police in Kathmandu. International
Scholarly Reserch Notices.
CBS. (2019). Environmental statistics of Nepal. Thapathali, Kathmandu: Central Bureau of
Statistics.
CDC. (2017). Air quality, Particle pollution. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention.
DoTM. (2017). Vehicle Registered in Baghmati Zone in Fiscal Year 072-73. Department of
Transport Management.
Gurung, A., Son, J., & Bell, M. (2017). Particulate matter and risk of hospital admission in the
Kathmandu Valley, Nepal: A case-crossover study. American Journal of Epidemology,
186, 573-580.
https://epi.yale.edu/epi-country-report/NPL. (2020). Environmental Performance Index.
Retrieved from https://epi.yale.edu/epi-country-report/NPL
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Joshi, S. (2003). Air pollutiion in Nepal. Kathmandu University Medical Journal, 1, 231-233.
Karki, K. B., Dhakal, P., Shrestha, S. L., Joshi, H. D., Aryal, K. K., Poudyal, A., . . . Dhimal, M.
(2016). Situation analysis of ambient air pollution and respiratory health effects in
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6
Shrestha, H., Nepal, O., & Khanal, K. (2015). A cross-sectional study of lung functions in traffic
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GLOSSARY/ ABBREVIATIONS

CBS Central Bureau of Statistics

CDC Centers of Disease Control and Prevention
CO Carbon monoxide
COPD Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
DoTM Department of Transport Management
GHO Global Health Observatory
IHD Ischaemic Heart Disease
NO2 Nitrogen Dioxide
O3 Ozone
PM Particulate Matter
SO2 Sulfur dioxide
TSPM Total Suspended Particulate Matter
WHO World Health Organization