Note on pollution in Kathmandu and the North Indian Gangetic Plains.
Unfortunately, this situation hasn’t improved since my first visit to Nepal and Northern India many years ago. Political will to tackle it just isn’t there according to environmentalists and campaigners – who are calling for something to be done.
Nepal consistently rates highest in the world from death rates from chronic lung disease – a horrible irony in a country famed for it’s mountain treks and clear mountain air.
The problem is now so acute that during the worst months of winter from end of October to February the whole of the Kathmandu Valley is enveloped in a thick haze of smog and you can’t even make out the surrounding foothills of the Himalayas.
Why is Pollution here so Bad?
According to environmental experts, the problem is mainly caused by garbage burning, open fires and vehicle exhaust fumes, and in Nepal it is worsened by the Kathmandu Valley being bowl shaped – thus trapping the pollutant particles within.
The monsoon easterlies bring rain for much of the year from April to August. The monsoon rain flushes pollutants out of the skies, hence, ironically a visit to Kathmandu in the rainy season between April and September will have clearer smog free skies. It isn’t until the easterly winds stop at the end of the October that the problem becomes acute once again.
The festival season (Oct – Dec) also brings it’s own pollutants with post harvest stubble burning and huge amounts of firecrackers set off during the Divali/Deepavali festival across the whole Indo-Gangetic Plain.
When Should I Go to avoid the Pollution
Ironically many tour companies cite the best time to visit Nepal as between October and February. After the monsoons, when they say that the skies are a clear blue and the views spectacular. And yes this is true outside of the Kathmandu Valley bowl but not in the city itself, nor in most of the cities of northern India and Bangladesh.
As a tour leader I can remember the nightmare of running tours to northern India in December and January where the whole day was spent in a thick yellow gloom of smog. Of not being able to view the Taj Mahal early in the morning because you simply couldn’t see it in the gloom. Of my clients asking where the famous views of the Himalayas were when standing at the Swayambhunath Stupa in Kathmandu. And of flights constantly delayed due to smog.
Towards the end of the monsoon season is probably the best time to visit if you are concerned about it.
CBS News Article on Delhi’s Toxic Smog November 2022
Where’s Taj? Article from November 2021
The Problem is not just in Nepal
Indeed the issue relates to the Northern India Gangetic Plains region as a whole, and the ongoing deaths from lung disease for millions of its inhabitants.
The problem will not go away on its own. It will require the leaders of India, Nepal and Bangladesh to tackle it together – something sadly not looking likely right now.
