Valley
Vehicle emission test to start from Singha Durbar
The Quick Action Team, formed recently to address growing concerns about increasing air pollution in major city areas including Kathmandu Valley, has decided to conduct emissions test of vehicles belonging to the government agencies that are based in Singh Durbar.The Quick Action Team, formed recently to address growing concerns about increasing air pollution in major city areas including Kathmandu Valley, has decided to conduct emissions test of vehicles belonging to the government agencies that are based in Singh Durbar.
“We want to determine how environment-friendly the vehicles owned by the government agencies are,” said Durga Prasad Dawadi, director general of the Department of Environment (DoE).
The first meeting of the team, comprising representatives of various ministries and departments, on Sunday also decided to train the Kathmandu Valley traffic police how to conduct vehicle emissions test.
“We will conduct this training for traffic police at the earliest at the department. Traffic police will be able to determine how safe the vehicles plying the streets of Kathmandu Valley are from environmental point of view. Vehicles that are safe will get green stickers,” added Dawadi.
The team also asked the DoE to identify the top pollution zones inside the Valley and report it in the next meeting.
Directing the concerned authorities to prohibit burning of garbage and plastic materials out in the open was another major decision taken by the meeting.
The participants of the meeting also reiterated the need for a close coordination among the DoE, the Kathmandu Metropolitan City and the Ministry of Health to minimise air pollution in the Valley, launching public awareness campaign on the impacts of air pollution and starting a penalty system to discourage people from polluting their community.
The team, led by Joint Secretary Narayan Prasad Regmi of the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, was formed on November 17 to find a way to stem the declining air quality in urban areas.