Emission test begins from Singha Durbar

Nov 30, 2017-A joint team of Department of Environment (DoE), Metropolitan Traffic Police Division (MTPD) and Department of Transport Management (DoTM) conducted emission tests of vehicles owned by various government agencies based inside Singha Durbar on Wednesday, as per the decision of the Quick Action Team that was formed earlier this month to tackle the problem of air pollution in major cities of the country including the Kathmandu Valley.

Out of 30 vehicles that underwent the emission test on the Singha Durbar premises, most met the emission standards, said Govinda Lamichhane, environment inspector at the DoE. “We started from one of the inner streets of the Singh Durbar and ran random test of passing vehicles. Most of the vehicles that we tested were found to be complying with the pollution standards,” he added. While all petrol-run vehicles passed the test, two diesel-run vehicles failed to meet the emission standards.  According to the existing emission standards, petrol vehicles manufactured before and after 1980 should not emit carbon monoxide (CO) more than 4.5 per cent and 3.5 per cent respectively in its total smoke density, said Prem Singh, acting director general with the DoTM. For older and newer diesel-run vehicles, the CO should not cross more than 75 per cent and 65 per cent under Hartridge Smoke Unit (HSU).
In a bid to minimise air pollution, a multi-stakeholder meeting held at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers (OPMCM) on November 17 had formed the Quick Action Team consisting of officials from different ministries and departments.The first meeting of the team had decided to start emission monitoring fro