Kathmandu, Jan. 9 -- The new draft of Kathmandu Valley's Air Pollution Management Action Plan has proposed declaring a public health emergency whenever the level of Particulate Matter (PM) 2.5 crosses 300 micrograms per cubic metre (?g/m3).

When PM2.5, the most dangerous pollutant, crosses 300 ?g/m3, it can broadly affect everyone breathing the air irrespective of their age groups.

"The government authority can announce emergency condition if the PM2.5 crosses the 300 ?g/m3 mark," said Indu Bikram Joshi, deputy director general at the Department of Environment. "So far, the pollution level in Kathmandu has not reached 300 ?g. Even on most polluted days, PM2.5 level stays somewhere between 200-250 micrograms per cubic metre."

According ...