Kathmandu, April 27Over 29 per cent of vehicles failed the emission test conducted by Metropolitan Traffic Police Division in Balkumari of Lalitpur yesterday.The emission test was part of the ‘Traffic Management and Pollution Control Improvement Action Plan, 2019,& recently put in place by Nepal Police.According to MTPD, emission test was randomly conducted on as many as 37 vehicles in Balkumari area.
Of them, emission level of 26 vehicles was found beyond permissible limits.
The owners or drivers of the vehicles failing the emission test were penalised with a fine ranging from Rs 500 to Rs 1500, depending on the emission level.On Thursday, 25 out of 45 vehicles had failed the emission test conducted in Dhobighat, Lalitpur.
The failure percentage is over 44.
MPCD said it indicated that vehicles were one of the major causes of pollution in Kathmandu Valley.As per vehicle emission standards implemented by the government in 2003, the permissible level for four-wheelers registered in Nepal in or before 1980 is maximum 4.5 per cent of carbon monoxide (CO) of the total emission and maximum 1,000 parts per million hydrocarbon concentration.Similarly, four-wheelers registered in the country after 1981 should not emit CO exceeding three per cent of the total emission and their ppm hydrocarbons in emission is required to be below 1,000.Likewise, two-wheelers are not allowed to emit CO exceeding 4.5 per cent of the total emission while their ppm hydrocarbon should be less than 7,800.According to the Ministry of Forests and Environment, the Particulate Matter (PM2.5) concentration in Kathmandu is many times higher than the World Health Organisation standard.
The WHO considers air unsafe when average exposure to PM2.5.
exceeds 10 µg/ m3.
MTPD said an average of 800,000 vehicles, both two-wheelers and four-wheelers, ply the valley roads daily.