“The pre-monsoon drizzle in Kathmandu is likely to last till Saturday,” said MFD´s Senior Meteorologist Rajendra Shrestha. [break]
Except for the far-western region, the whole country is seeing hazy weather and slight drizzle. “There won´t be continuous rainfall in Kathmandu, but slight drizzle with thunderstorms and brief hailstorms is on the cards for the next few days,” said Shrestha.
The slight drizzle has brought down temperature by nearly seven degrees since May 1 when the maximum temperature in Kathmandu was 31.3 degrees Celsius. On Wednesday, the maximum temperature was 23.7 degrees Celsius.
Environmental activist Bhushan Tuladhar said that while there is no exact data of how much the drizzle and the shutdown might have contributed to bringing down the pm10 level in Kathmandu, a 50 percent reduction of the pm10 level is a safe bet, he said.
“During shorter shutdowns, the pm10 level used to drop by around 30 percent. So, I can estimate that the level has dropped by up to 50 percent this time,” he said.
The normal day pm10 level in areas like Putalisadak is 200 to 300. While the WHO standard for is just 20, Nepal´s standard is 120, according to Tuladhar.
“Owing to the drizzle, air pollution is not a hazard in Kathmandu now. But other environmental hazards will depend on how well the garbage and human waste is being managed in Kathmandu,” he said.
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