With the mercury going down gradually, the quality of air in Putalisadak, Patan and Thamel areas has reached to an unhealthy level. Similarly, the fringe areas of the valley like Matsyagaon, Bhaktapur and Kirtipur, which had witnessed almost no air pollution some times during the monsoon this year, have started to experience worsening air quality.

The air quality monitoring stations set-up at the places are showing the level of fine dust particles in the air gradually going up. "It is due to the growing cold and lack of rain in the valley that there is an increase of fine dust particles in air," said Chiranjivi Gautam, an environmentalist involved in the air quality monitoring at the Ministry of Population and Environment (MoPE).

According to an air quality monitoring result published here recently by the MoPE, Putalisadak, Patan and Thamel areas witnessed air pollution level resulting from fine solid dust particles, known as PM10, well above the national air quality standard in the last week (Nov 9 to 15). The standard for PM10, the most threatening solid pollutant to the valley air, is 120 microgram per cubic meter. Anything exceeding the standard is considered harmful to health.

The level of PM10 in the Putalisadak area was an average of 185 microgram per cubic meter last week, whereas the air in the Patan area contained an average of 166 microgram per cubic meter of PM10 during the period. The measurements of pollutant at these places with heavy traffic show a large increase. Similarly, the air quality monitoring station at the Thamel area, which has a residential background, showed the air containing an average of 169 microgram per cubic meter of PM10 in the week.

Kirtipur, Bhaktapur and Matsyagaon, which are fringe areas of the Kathmandu valley, that had witnessed almost no air pollution at some times during the monsoon this year, have now air contaminated by growing PM10 level. Kirtipur, Bhaktapur and Matsyagaon had experienced the level of PM10 at averages of 40, 64 and 27 microgram per cubic meter respectively in the last week of October.

But the places have now PM10 at averages of 75, 98 and 49 microgram per cubic meter in the last week. PM10, which remains suspended for a long period in the air, is very hazardous to human health. A number of diseases are linked to the pollutant. Hospital studies have shown growing impact of the pollutant on the health of the valley dwellers. Long exposure to the pollutant is considered lethal to patients of asthma and to children.

OTHER NEWS

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• Tourism slump takes a toll on cyber cafes: The contagious effect of the downturn in the tourism industry is evident in the e-business. The slowdown has taken a toll on the cyber cafes and Internet-email outlets of the capital particularly in Thamel area, a tourist hub of the city. Some of the cyber cafes have been closed down while some others have shut down their branches. And those in operation are also either running at loss or surviving with great difficulty.
  
  
• Pasgaun waiting for tourists: After recording a few numbers of tourists both from the home and abroad, the residents of Pasgaun dreamt to develop their locality into a tourist destination. Their efforts to turn their village in to a tourist destination gained a feather when the Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP) began to suggest the visiting tourists to make a tour to Pasgaun. However, the warm hopes of the village people have come in to risk due to the frequent clashes between the Maoist rebels and the army men. Despite the efforts of the local activists and Mother's Group to constructing the physical infrastructure of the area, the tourists flow has been declining as the security condition is going fragile each day.
  
  
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