The Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers has directed the concerned government agencies and stakeholders to coordinate with each other to come up with measures to control the increasing concentrations of dust and other harmful air pollutants inside Kathmandu Valley.

During a meeting held at OPMCM on Friday, Chief Secretary Som Lal Subedi expressed concern over the lack of coordination among the concerned agencies while carrying out development and construction works inside the Valley that have resulted in increased dust, potholes and damaged road sections in various areas inside the Valley, affecting the lives of the Valley denizens.

Chief Secretary Subedi directed the authorities involved in various construction projects, including the road-expansion works, pipe-laying activities under the Melamchi Drinking Water Supply Project and road repair and potholes filling works to improve their working style and coordinate with each other to implement the projects without further delay.

He also directed the concerned government agencies to come up with effective measures to control the pollution that is affecting the local environment and public health.

During the meeting, Subedi directed the Kathmandu Metropolitan City to provide dust collecting broomer machine to Melamchi Project, spray water on regular basis to settle dust particles suspended on air, manage tangled wires and cables and fill potholes and repair the damaged road sections.

Chiefs of Road Division Office, Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Department of Water Supply and Sewerage, Nepal Electricity Authority, Nepal Telecom and other concerned agencies were present in the meeting. 

Two weeks ago, during the 47th meeting of the Central Monitoring and Evaluation Committee chaired by Chief Secretary Subedi at the OPMCM, air pollution figured as one of the key issues and the OPMCM had directed the concerned stakeholders to come up with concrete action plans to mitigate risks of air pollution on human health inside the Valley.

During winter the concentration level of toxic particles increases in the Valley, and this year, the ongoing road expansion drive and digging of roadsides to lay pipelines for the Melamchi project have increased the concentration of dust particles that can directly enter the respiratory system, causing serious health complications.