Kathmandu, Jan. 19 -- Rekha Thapa of Dailekh, in far western Nepal had a job in Kathmandu after graduation, but she was not able to join. Not because it would mean distance from her family, but because of respiratory problems caused bysevere air pollution in the capital.

"I have asthma," says Thapa. "Dailekh may not have modern health facilities, but at least the air there is fresh."

Ram Bahadur Shahi, 65, is also anasthma patient,and can breathe without problems in his home village in Kavre. But as soon as he comes to Kathmandu, the dust and the smog make him wheeze and he has difficulty breathing.

We cannot measure the impact of air pollution directly, as we can with blood pressure or glucose level. Nonetheless, it kills as many peop...