National 3 (Spotlight Weekly)

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The ban on the two-stroke three wheelers might not result in much improvement in the air quality if replaced by similar vehicles running on diesel

By THAKUR AMGAI

Kathmandu is one of the most polluted cities in the world. The air quality in almost the whole of valley is said to be unhealthy to breathe. With the population increasing day by day and the number of vehicles increasing at an exponential rate, the situation is bound to get worsened. If things go unchanged, environmentalists say, the problem we confront now could only be a prelude of much worse things to come in the days ahead.

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Recently, the government decided to ban the two-stroke three wheelers in the capital valley. The ban could bring much improvement in the air quality, if electric vehicles had replaced it, opines Deepak K. C., program officer at the Clean Energy Nepal (CEN), an organization that advocates for environment conservation. "It will not make any improvement in the air quality if the two-stroke three wheelers are replaced by diesel vehicles," said K.C.

The government has decided to let the owners of the displaced three wheeler register one petrol run car for one three wheeler and a diesel run microbus for three three-wheelers. The department of transport management had otherwise banned the import of new public vehicles to run in the city. According to the environmentalists, petrol run vehicle pollute less than the diesel run ones. "It will be okay if the two-strokes are replaced by petrol vehicles, but will do no good, if replaced by diesel run vehicles," says environmentalist Bhusan Tuladhar.

The entrepreneurs, despite their reservations are cooperative to the government policy of removing old vehicles to protect the environment. "The government has not given us any privileges like subsidies in the customs or other tariffs," laments Ram Bahadur Shrestha, chairman of the Tempo (three-wheelers) Entrepreneurs' Association. "We have been launching various protests since 2000 asking the government to give us some kind of privilege to compensate our investment in tempos, but it fell in the deaf ears. We have no choice, but to give up."

"The government has decided to ban the two-stroke three wheelers as per its policy to remove polluters from the valley," said Binod Gyawali, spokesperson at the Ministry of Environment and Population. The government has also brought out the tail pipe emission standards and started checking vehicle emission since the last 10 years. However, this has not been effective as one can see smoke belching vehicles plying freely in the streets of Kathmandu. Environmentalists accuse the vehicle owners of tampering the emission system to pass the test.

There were about 2000 two-stroke three wheelers in the capital and all of them were at least 12 years old - because the government had banned the import of such vehicles way back in 1991. On the other hand, two stroke two wheelers are still plying on the roads and there are no immediate plans to remove them. The government has also been trying to displace vehicles, which are more than 20 years old but in vain thanks to the vehement protests from the owners.

The major pollutants of Kathmandu Valley are microscopic dust particles that are ten thousand times less than the size of the thickness of a hair. Diesel vehicles are the chief sources of such pollutants, which are the particulate matters less than 10 microns (PM10). According to doctors, PM10 particles are harmful to our health as they can enter the delicate parts of our lungs and affect the respiratory system directly.

According to the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAS), brought out by the government, the concentration of PM10 of more than 110 micrograms per cubic meter of air is unhealthy to breathe. However, the amount of particulate matter exceeds this limit in the city centers in 99 percent of the days. The average PM10 concentration in the valley is 255.

Transportation sector is the highest contributor to the Air Pollution in Kathmandu with a share of 43 percent. The heavy traffic, poorly maintained vehicles, as well the roads and the quality of fuel are the catalysts to the problem. Despite the restriction of the government to register new public vehicles, the number of vehicles has more than doubled in the last five years alone.

The air pollution of the Valley has alarming effects in public health. "The accumulation of too much PM10 particles can cause asthma, bronchitis, tuberculosis, laryngeal cancer, cataract and other cardio-vascular and respiratory diseases," said a pulmonologist. Researches have shown that the risk of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases is double for the residents of Kathmandu Valley than for the people from outside the Valley. The number of patients reporting to the hospital with complaints of respiratory problems is increasing day by day and health professionals fear the number could increase even more in the years to come if the situation does not improve.