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Smog over Kathmandu | by rpb1001
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Smog over Kathmandu

It is getting cooler and cooler in Kathmandu these days. I am sitting near an open window in the sun (which has just gone behind a cloud) in this freezing, concrete refrigerator of a house. The neighbour has just started burning rubbish in the garden and now the room is filled with slightly acrid fumes. Nice.

 

The quality of air here in Kathmandu is often poor. Its ingredients are dust, vehicle and diesel generator fumes and burning, or rather smouldering rubbish.

 

A quick cycle ride across town on the main roads will leave you with a headache, if not a feeling of nausea.

 

The air reminds me of the off-white bedsheets in a cheap hotel. Every view is a little hazy.

 

It could be much worse of course. There is no industry in the valley, beyond a few remaining brickmakers, that really contribute to the haze.

 

In this picture you can see the busiest areas of town, mainly within the ring road, hiding under lethargic smog.

 

It's taken from the jeep road in the Shivapuri National Park just near Nagi Gompa. It has to be said that not all places suffer from pollution. It's mainly the busy main streets in Kathmandu where the dust and fumes are bad - other streets suffer from motorbike horns! But main places are quite livable. And if you get out to the Shivapuri National Park, then you are in a natural heaven.

 

There is a running race in the park to celebrate that fact: shivapuri.trailrunningnepal.org/

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Uploaded on December 24, 2009