Kathmandu — Average PM2.5 concentrations across the Kathmandu Valley dropped seventeen percent year-on-year during the dry season, the Department of Environment reported this week, crediting a doubling in electric vehicle registrations and a newly enforced ban on vehicles older than twenty years.
Over 45,000 electric two-wheelers and 3,200 electric four-wheelers were registered in the valley in the past twelve months, a 104-percent increase. Subsidised charging infrastructure funded under the government's Green Mobility Programme now covers all major arterial roads.
Health researchers at Tribhuvan University estimate the cleaner air will prevent approximately 1,200 premature deaths annually in the valley. The Environment Department cautioned, however, that dust from construction sites and brick kilns continues to be a significant pollution source, and tighter regulations for that sector are under review.