Kathmandu, Nov. 7 -- The Kathmandu Metropolitan City has yet to start emission testing of polluting vehicles, both private and public, that was suspended in mid-July.

The prolonged halt of pollution control measures has raised serious concerns, as the dry season has already set in. Kathmandu sees a spike in air pollution during the dry season with the air quality index reaching hazardous levels.

Officials said that emission testing cannot be carried out without help of a mechanical engineer, whose contract expired at the end of the previous fiscal year [in mid-July].

"We will resume testing once we hire a new engineer," said Jagatman Shrestha, traffic expert adviser at the Kathmandu Metropolitan City office. "We have already started th...