Clean tech

What started as an informal attempt to ease congestion and reduce the physical toll on pedal rickshaw pullers has now evolved into a dominant transport mode across Dhaka’s North and South city corporations.

The EPA, which enforces federal environmental laws, said it would stop estimating the economic value of health benefits from reducing ozone and fine particulate matter, even though it acknowledges that they contribute to pulmonary disease, heart attacks, and premature deaths. 

The meeting also reviewed management of construction and demolition (C&D) waste, with emphasis on designating C&D waste sites, stopping demolition activities during peak pollution periods, and partnering recycler associations for scientific disposal.

These twin initiatives – ministerial oversight of state action plans and on-ground inspections by CAQM – reflect an intensified government push to address chronic air pollution in the NCR.

Experts caution that timely implementation, effective supervision and coordination among agencies will be key to ensuring project success. Nepal’s road sector has historically faced challenges related to delays, cost overruns and difficult terrain.

Experts argue that meeting Nepal’s 2045 net-zero target and Sustainable Development Goal 7 – affordable and clean energy for all – will require a fundamental rethink of biogas policy.

While official forecasts have suggested potential weather shifts that could help disperse pollutants, scientists caution that air quality may remain poor in the coming days without sustained reductions in emissions.

Despite short-term improvements when winds disperse pollutants, Pakistan’s larger “smog season,” which typically lasts from October through February, has become a recurring annual crisis with economic and social costs that reverberate beyond public health into education, productivity and infrastructure planning.