English

BEHIND THE MASK: A FASHON OR A COMPULSION IN KATHMANDU VALLEY

• Rupali Shah
• 11 Jan, Friday, 2019 | 18:14:00 Published

Kathmandu : Air pollution has been a major problem of 21^st 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.

Kathmandu, in the current situation, is suffering from Non-communicable Disease (NCO) like lung disease, heart disease, and cancers.

After earthquake most of the infrastructure of Kathmandu was devastated i.e. roads, building etc. because of earthquake we are getting landslides in Muglin-narayanghat road. Now reconstructions have caused a serious problem in Kathmandu valley.

Also in kalanki road is being built again due to which pollution is increasing. Most of the houses was destroyed during earthquake and it is being re constructed. This way earthquake is also one of the serious problem to create air pollution.Nepal’s air quality ranks 177th out of 178 countries, according to Yale’s 2014 Environmental Performance Index (EPI), better only than Bangladesh.

As a physician working in one of Kathmandu’s main teaching hospitals, I see a disproportionate amount of patients with respiratory ailments who are admitted to the wards on a daily basis, the victims of dirty air. Walking to and from work along the crowded, exhaust-choked streets, I sometimes wonder how more people are not sick.