AIR POLLUTION IN KATHMANDU VALLEY

A project work

Submitted by:

Name: AALOK RAUT

Class: 11

Roll No: 340

Section: D7

National school of sciences

Submitted to:

DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY

NATIONAL SCHOOL OF SCIENCES

KATHMANDU, NEPAL
2023
 CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL
This project work entitled, “AIR POLLUTION IN KATHMANDU VALLEY” by

Mr Aalok Raut under the supervision of Ms.shambhabi vasistha is here submitted for the partial
fulfillment of project work of chemistry of grade 11 has been accepted.

Supervisor
Shambhabi vasistha
Department of chemistry
National School of sciences
Kathmandu, Nepal
 i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

During the period of our project and completion of this Report We have benefited from many
peoples to whom we would like to express our sincere thanks.

I would like to express my hearty gratitude to my respected lecturer as well as the project
supervisor Ms.shambhabi vasistha for invaluable suggestions and inspiring guidance for
completing this study. His cooperation, suggestions and keen interest in this study are over
memorable. His vigorous efforts made me present this research work in this form.
Furthermore, I would like to thank my colleague who directly and indirectly helped me.
Finally, I would like thank a lot to my friends and all the students of Chemistry for supporting
me.

Aalok Raut
National School of Sciences
Kathmandu, Nepal
 ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT………………………………………………………..1

INTRODUCTION……………………………………………….…2

Background…………………………………………………2

Scope and purpose of Research…………………………….3

OBJECTIVES OF STUDY………………………………………...4

LITERATURE REVIEW……………………………………………5

RESULT AND DISCUSSION…………………………………......6-10

CONCLUSIONS……………………………………………………11

RECOMMENDATION………………………………………........ .12

REFERENCES………………………………………………………13
 ABSTRACT
Air pollution has been a major problem of 21st century for both developed and developing
world. It has a negative impact on various environmental aspects which directly or indirectly
affect the quality of human health. Nepal, especially Kathmandu valley, in the current situation,
is observing rapid urbanization and various infrastructure development projects. As a result,
these sorts of human activities have been responsible for increasing air pollution in an enormous
rate inside Kathmandu Valley. Chronic exposure of deteriorated air increases the chance of
Noncommunicable Disease (NCD) like lung disease, heart disease, and cancers. Short term
exposures also invite respiratory diseases and allergy. This review is an attempt to summarize the
updated knowledge on the threat of air pollution on public health and discuss the sources of air
pollutants in Kathmandu. We reviewed the literatures that were published in PMC, MEDLINE,
life science journals, and organization official websites and finally came up with the findings and
their interpretation that reveal the current scenario in the context of Kathmandu’s air quality
status and its impact on human health. The knowledge about the invisible killer’s role in causing
acute and chronic diseases may help in finding out the answer of the question regarding its effect
and prevention
 INTRODUCTION
Background:
Mushrooms are the members of higher fungi belonging to class basic diomycetes and
some are Ascomycetes. They are fleshy spore bearing organ of fungi and
characterized by heterotrophic mode of nutrition. They may be apogeal and hypogeal
like any other fungus .The vegetative part of mushroom consists of thread like thin
mycelia, which under suitable environmental condition form fruiting bodies.
Mushroom occurs under various ecological conditions from desert to forest. They
comprise a large heterogeneous group with different shapes, size, color and edibility.
They are abundantly found in nature during rainy season .It is difficult to calculate the
number of species of fungi, which produce mushroom. Some of the mushrooms are
edible and some of them are highly poisonous. Fortunately the number of poisonous
genera and species are much fewer. To the context of Nepal its history of cultivation
is not so long. Invention and cultivated mushroom was started from 1976but
nowadays it is fast growing business due to its high profit. Farmers can get output
within one month from pleurotus cultivation. Nepal is also one of the countries where
mushroom can be cultivated throughout the year under natural environmental
condition. But in some hot and cold countries it needs highly sophisticated building. It
may not be affordable for farmer level. We can use most of agriculture wastage. We
have plenty of raw materials for mushroom cultivation. Skilled farmers can earn a lot
of money from its cultivation. In Nepal some of the valuable wild mushroom are
going to be extinct due to its early collection before mature. It is also necessary to
develop cultivation technology of such valuable mushroom. Mushroom cultivation
also helps to conserve such valuable mushroom. Some of the wild mushroom can take
our life but cultivated mushroom are safe for consumption. It has high medicinal and
nutritional value. It can solve the malnutrition problem like in our country. The oyster
mushroom (Pleurotus sp.) grows under natural condition on wooden logs. This
mushroom is also known as “wood fungus” and is commonly known “kannechyau” in
Nepal. Oyster mushroom is very popular in Nepal where it can be grown all round the
year. Being an agricultural country, we have plenty of raw materials for its
cultivation. Farmers can get output within short period along with its high profit.
Some of 14 the highly profitable and easy to cultivate mushroom species in Nepal are

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Pleurotus sp., Agaricus sp. and Lentinus sp. Among these Pleurotus is cultivated
throughout the country while Agaricus is cultivated by highly experienced farmers
and Lentinus is newly introduced mushroom which has been initiated to cultivate it by
hardly a few farmers. The oriental mushroom Lenten’s eddoes and
Volvariellavolvacea have been cultivated for 2000 years in China and Japan. Their
cultivation technology according to Singer (1961) must be a very ancient art. The
method of cultivation of jaw’s ear (Auricular sp) has been recorded in the ancient
Chinese Publication Liki about 300Bc. The authentic record are available only for
Agarics Bosporus(bottom mushroom).whose cultivation was introduced into
Paris(France)around A.D.700 by an unknown French horticulturist in the open.
Towards the end of the seventeenth century, someone whose name is not recorded
involved a method of treating horse manure and planting it with the spawn of wild
mushroom. But the first time published method of mushroom cultivation is by
Tournefort a Frenchman (Kapoor, 1999). Although cultivation technology of different
mushroom were developed in the foreign country much earlier, but to the context of
Nepal, workshops and invention of mushroom cultivation was started later on. In
1974, Plant Pathology Division started research on mushroom cultivation. At first
time research focused on Agarics about compost preparation by using horse dung with
different ingredients. Finally by using solon formula, paddy straw compost was
identified. Two seasons of cultivation were also identified as-Agarics can be
harvested from March to May, if spawn is inoculated in compost January. Agaricscan
be harvested from September- November if spawn is inoculated at July In 1977; the
cultivation technology was extended to the farmers. In 1984, the number of
mushroom grower was about 50-60 only. In 1984, the cultivation technology of
Pleurotus was introduced to Nepal. After spawn preparation and lab test the
cultivation technology extended to the farmers in 1984-85.At that time number of
farmers was about 100-150. In 1992, Australian project helped to conduct training
programmed at different places of Kathmandu, Lalitpur, Bhaktapur and Kabre.
Outside the Kathmandu valley CAT worked on collaboration with different
organization. In Kaski District, in collaboration with Li-Bird, CAT provided
Technology and spawn to the Li-bird. CAT also trained to the trainees of Li-Bird and
supervised mushroom growers. In Nawalparasi, in Collaboration with ILO
programmed, cultivation technology for Pleurutus and Volvariella was introduced at

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Terai for winter and summer respectively (in1999-2000). In 2000-2003, research was
carried for Shiitake on different fast growing trees by CAT(Centre for Agriculture
Technology). Among them, Alnussp and Castonuses sp. were recommended for its
cultivation. But still it seems 15 necessary to carry on further research on different
wooden logs in context of Nepal. Nowadays, popularity of mushroom consumption is
increasing. Therefore number of farm is growing up. Even private farms have started
to prepare, distribute the spawn and provide the training for farmersector and 11%
from the brick kilns (Gautam, 2006). The increase in vehicular emissions is mainly
due to the increase in the number of automobiles, as well as poor transport
management and vehicle maintenance. The number of vehicle registered in Bagamati
Zone1 is ever increasing. While the number registered in this Zone in 2000/01 was
less than 27 thousand, it had reached close to 50 thousand by 2009/10, with the total
number now at 250 thousand , which amounts to 56% of all vehicles registered in the
country during the 2006-2010 period (DoTM, 2010). Indeed, the number of vehicles
registered has been growing at a rate of 15% per year, which is approximately three
times the population growth rate. This growth rate is the highest in the case of private
vehicles such as motorcycles and small cars (ICIMOD, 2007).

Scope and purpose of Research:

The study was designed based upon ecological time series, and expected to link
respiratory disorders with ambient air pollution through calculation of relative risks
and attributable fractions. Three environmental pollutants: PM2.5, CO, and NO2 were
measured in this study along with collection of morbidity and mortality data from
major hospitals in Kathmandu Valley. Under this study, three monitoring stations
were established at three different locations in Kathmandu Valley: Putalishadak in
Kathmandu, Mahalaxmisthan in Lalitpur and Bhimsensthan-Jagati in Bhaktapur. At
each study site, daily monitoring was conducted for twelve months from 1 Falgun
2070 to 29 Magh 2071 (13 February 2014 to 12 February 2015) to find out the mean
and peak concentrations of PM2.5 and CO, and the mean concentration of NO2 , A
Nephelometer E-sampler and ToxieRae CO and NO2 sampler were used to monitor
PM2.5, CO and NO2 . Daily inpatient data related to respiratory health conditions
were collected for for all age groups throughout the year. A year continuous

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monitoring of ambient PM2.5, CO and NO2 in Kathmandu Valley showed that the
valley’s ambient air (57.6% for PM2.5 and 56.4% for NO2 ) has exceeded the daily
National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for the majority of the days of
monitoring, but in the case of CO, only a single day exceeded the national standard
(using 8 hour averages). Daily averages of PM2.5 are 3-5 times higher than the
national standard of 40µg/m3 . Moreover, concentrations of NO2 in ambient air are
also found to be high, with several very high spikes monitored above 1000 µg/m3 ,
which is around 12 times higher than 24-hour national standard of 80µg/m3 . Station-
wise results revealed that Kathmandu is more polluted with PM2.5 and CO
throughout the year when compared to Lalitpur and Bhaktapur. Seasonal and monthly
variations showed that winter and spring months are heavily polluted with ambient
PM2.5 levels. This indicates a negative association of fine particulate pollution with
meteorological variables like temperature, humidity and rainfall. However, with CO
this is not found to be the case, which remained at similar levels throughout the year.
The level of NO2 shows similar trend to that of PM2.5. We found definite patterns of
cyclic variations in pollution levels for all the three pollutants monitored in the 24
hour cycle.

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 OBJECTIVES OF STUDY:

➢ To study about the air pollution in Kathmandu valley (including major

contributors of pollution, health hazards)

6
 LITERATURE REVIEW:
While epidemiological studies have tried to establish a relationship between air
pollution and incidence of illness using what is known as dose response and damage
functions, economists have estimated the health costs of air pollution using different
valuation techniques (Grossman, 1972; Alberini et al., 1997; Ostro, 1994; Krupnick,
2000; Murty, 2002). The techniques that are used to value costs include the health
production function approach, the benefit transfer approach and the contingent
valuation approach. Several studies have attempted an estimation of the health
benefits from a reduction in air pollution to safe level in the Kathmandu valley. A
World Bank study by Shah and Nagpal (1997), which estimated the health impacts of
PM10 in Kathmandu in 1990, found that the cost of the health impacts was
approximately NRs 210 million. The study, however, used a dose-response
relationship based on research in the US, combining it with the estimated frequency
distribution of PM10 exposure in Kathmandu Valley in 1990. Further, CEN/ENPHO
(2003) estimated that the avoided cost of hospital treatment through a reduction in
PM10 levels in Kathmandu to international standards was approximately NRs 30
million. However, this study did not cover the costs of the entire spectrum of health
impacts from air pollution in Kathmandu. It did not capture, for instance, the cost of
emergency room visits, restricted activity days, respiratory symptom days, treatment
at home, and excess mortality. Murty et al. (2003) estimate the annual morbidity and
mortality benefits to a representative household from reducing PM10 concentrations
to the safe standard of 100 µgms/m3 to be NRs 1,905. Likewise, a report of the
Ministry of Environmental Science and Technology (2005) revealed that the annual
mortality rate due to the current levels of PM10 in Kathmandu was approximately 900
per 1,000,000 inhabitants in 2003. This study also found that if the concentrations of
PM10 in Kathmandu valley could be reduced to levels below 50 µg/m3 , 1,600 deaths
could be avoided annually. Existing studies on valuing the health costs due to air
pollution in the Kathmandu valley have various limitations because of methodological
issues and data problems. The present study differs from the previous studies in
several respects. Firstly, it is based on a longitudinal survey and captures the seasonal
variation in air pollutants and the effect of such variation on human health.

7
 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION:

air pollution has become a serious environmental concern and a public health risk in
developing cites of developing countries, including Nepal. Major cities of Nepal are
facing such problems. Due to its unique topographical situation, coupled with high
emissions of pollutants, Kathmandu Valley is particularly vulnerable. However, latest
data on ambient air quality in major cities of Nepal including of Kathmandu valley
was not available to determine the degree of pollution. To get such data of
Kathmandu valley, NHRC monitored ambient air quality (PM2.5, CO and NO2 ) of
Kathmandu Valley continuously for a year. The monitoring period was from Falgun
2070 till Magh 2071, and showed that the valley’s ambient air is polluted with
harmful levels of PM2.5 and NO2 , with daily 24-hour averages exceeding the daily
Nepal’s NAAQS for the majority of days (57.6% for PM2.5 and 56.4% for NO2 ) of
monitoring. In the case of CO, only a single day exceeded the standard (using 8 hour
averages). Many daily averages of PM2.5 were 3-5 times higher than the standard of
40µg/m3 . Moreover, concentrations of NO2 in the ambient air were found to be high,
with several high spikes monitored above 1000 µg/m3 , which is around 12 times the
24-hour Nepal standard of 80µg/m3 . In a similar study conducted in China with the
aim of reaching new air quality standards, air quality was monitored from August
2011 to February 2012, in 15 major cities out of 26. The concentration of PM2.5 (57.5
µg/m3 ) was higher than that recommended by WHO of 11.2 µg/m3 (24 hour average
value). Similarly, the concentrations of CO and NO2 in those cities were in excess of
the WHO recommended values (17). Conversely, NO2 was higher at the Kathmandu
station for only 5 of the 12 months, while for the remaining months Bhaktapur and
Lalitpur exceeded recommended NO2 levels. This signifies that NO2 emissions from
the months of Kartik-Poush, and during Chaitra may originate from sources such as

8
generators, coal-powered factories etc. The study conducted in China, as well as one
conducted in the capital of Romania, Bucharest, also suggested similar types of
seasonal, daily and location-based variation in concentrations of PM2.5, CO and NO2
(17, 18). Seasonal and monthly variations reveal that during winter and spring
ambient air is highly polluted with PM2.5, implying that colder and drier seasons are
more risky compared to hot and wet months for valley inhabitants. It further
demonstrates negative associations between fine particulate pollution levels and the
meteorological variables temperature, humidity and rainfall. However, such
correlations were not observed for CO. By comparison, CO levels were highest
(though still within the standard) in both hot as well as cold months.. CO is a highly
reactive species which typically undergoes immediate conversion to CO2 (19). Other
micro environmental factors may play meaningful roles in disrupting associations in
Kathmandu Valley between meteorological conditions and levels of ambient
atmospheric pollution(20). In the case of NO2 ambient air pollution, cold winter
months were relatively more polluted than hot and wet months, similar to the situation
for PM2.5 pollution. Within 24-hour variation was also assessed to examine the
possible variation of pollutant levels over different time periods such as morning,
daytime, evening and night, since meteorological conditions (mainly temperature),
and pollution emission activities vary across these time intervals. Interestingly, it was
found that there exist definite patterns of cyclical variation in levels for all three
pollutants monitored. Another situational analysis study of ambient air levels of
PM2.5, CO and NO2 from March 2013 to March 2014 also showed changes from
rainy to dry seasons for PM2.5, CO, and NOx of 49- 73 µg/m3 (40%), 2.5-3.8 ppm
(40%), and 144-252 ppb (53%), respectively (21). PM2.5 hourly levels are at their
lowest (below 40 µg/m3 ) during the post-midnight until predawn period (0-5 AM).
They gradually increase throughout the morning and attain their highest level (87
µg/m3 ) during 8-9 AM. Levels then decrease to their lowest value (31 µg/m3 )
during the afternoon (2-3 PM). Thereafter, levels increase again, reaching a peak (59
µg/m3 ) at 8-9 PM before gradually decreasing late at night. Hourly NO2 averages
show cyclical variation similar to PM2.5 hourly variation. The averages are
consistently much higher than the 24-hour standard of 80 µg/m3 , which reveals that
Kathmandu Valley is highly polluted with ambient NO2 pollution. Relatively, levels
are on the lower side in the period after midnight until pre-dawn (160-170 µg/ m3 )

9
and start rising in the early morning (5-6 AM). Levels rise to around 270 µg/m3 by 9-
10 AM and decrease gradually during the daytime to reach around 140 µg/m3 by 4-6
PM. The levels then again rise, to around 180 µg/m3 , at 6-9 PM, then decrease
through until midnight (150 µg/ m3 ). The pollution increases during the morning
may be partly due to increasing activities of the human population, and increase in
traffic density in particular, and it poses a health threat to morning walkers. In Mexico
City, PM2.5 reaches its maximum concentration between 7 and 11 AM depending on
the season: warm-dry, cold-dry, or rainy. It is reported that this large shift in the peak
of the daily cycle is the result of both the atmospheric dynamics, i.e. boundary layer
growth, and the chemical process behind the formation and growth of the particles
that make up PM2.5 and NO2 (21). In Nepal, hourly averages of CO are very low
from midnight until predawn (less than 200 µg/m3 ) and start to increase from early
morning (5-6 AM), reaching around 635 µg/m3 by 10-11 AM. The level remains
relatively high throughout daytime until 2-3 PM (500-670 µg/m3 ), then dips to
around 400 µg/m3 during 4-5 PM. The level then again increases to a maximum of
around 725 µg/m3 at 7-8 PM, and decreases thereafter through midnight (189 µg/m3 )
till the pre-dawn period (118 µg/m3 ). However, despite this variation, values remain
well below the 8 hour NAAQS of 10000 µg/m3 at all times. Health impact of CO is
therefore expected to be negligible, though it’s of note that the pattern of hourly
variation of CO is similar to that of PM2.5 and NO2 , which are both above the safe
limit. Schedule power outage is becoming a major challenge for Nepal, and is giving
rise to direct and indirect impacts in the realm of socioeconomics, cultural, and health
of the population. At present, the nation is facing problems of power outage for more
than 12 hours daily except in the rainy season, when larger amounts of hydro
electricity are available. PM2.5 pollutants in ambient air was found to be 1.33 times
higher during scheduled power outage times at all three stations of Kathmandu
Valley. The higher levels of PM2.5 during power outage times may be due to the use
of generators or other types of fuel which create particulate pollution. This is the first
time such data have been generated in Nepal, and therefore provides a unique insight
into the current status of ambient air quality.

10
 Figure 1: Sources of PM10 in Kathmandu Valley

wastes burning
1% others
industry 4%
3%

agriculture
18% Vechicles
38%

Road resuspension
25%
Brick Klins
11%

Figure 2: Average PM10 at Various Monitoring Stations in Kathmandu Valley

(Jun 2015-May 2016)

500
450
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
Jun Jun Jul Jul Aug Aug Thamel
Oct Oct Nov Nov Dechospital
Patan Dec Jan Jan Feb Feb Mar Mar Apr Apr
Putalisadak May
Jun Jul Aug Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May
May

Source: MOEST (Various Reports)

11
Figure 3:Registration of transport in Bagmati Zone

Sources: Registration of vehicles in Bagmati Zone 2001 to 2016

12
 CONCLUSIONS:

➢ We carried out field observations of air pollution in the Kathmandu Valley during
the dry season of 2015–2016. We noted that carbon monoxide, as a tracer of
anthropogenic emissions, had a distinct diurnal pattern of morning and evening peaks.
During the afternoon, the valley was ventilated by strong westerly winds entering
through the western passes. In the evening emissions in the valley accumulated in the
city and its environs. Late at night, the city air quality improved again, as polluted
surface layers appeared to be lifted up owing to the convergence of cleaner colder air
into the city driven by katabatic flows on the valley rim slopes. In the early morning,
as the mixed layer started to grow, the elevated pollutants were mixed back down into
the city. Analysis of our observations indicates that the twin peak pattern existed
owing to an interplay between the timing of emissions and ventilation. The morning
peak decreased when the strong westerly winds removed pollutants that had
accumulated in the city over the course of the mornings. Our observations do not tell
us the pathways of pollutant ventilation out of the valley. They also do not give us a
complete picture of the dynamics of the valley's daytime mixed layer, and nighttime
cold air pool. These topics are investigated using the numerical model MM5 in a
companion paper (Panday et al., submitted manuscript, 2009. Although local
emissions within the valley play an important role in creating pollution peaks, our CO
measurements on mountaintops and Bhimdhunga Pass, as well as the high minimum
CO levels ever recorded at the Bouddha laboratory make it clear that there is
significant background air pollution present that comes to the Kathmandu Valley from
elsewhere. Part of it may be from biofuel combustion in rural Nepal, while part of it is
likely to originate in the Ganges Plains.

13
 RECOMMENDATION

For more information about the air pollution in Kathmandu valley, you can study
different journal for different places. This is insufficient paper for the air pollution in
Kathmandu valley so you can studied in many fields. This report gives the
information about the current status of air pollution in Kathmandu valley.

14
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Department of Chemistry
National School of Sciences

16