International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development

Kathmandu, Nepal

Mexico City, Kathmandu, and the sharing of air quality management experiences with and within South Asia

Arnico K. Panday, Sc.D.Regional Programme Manager, Atmosphere

International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD)Kathmandu, Nepal

NCAP Roundtable, New Delhi, India, 26 November 2018

ICIMODInternational Centre for Integrated Mountain Development

A regional mountain knowledge, learning, and enabling centre devoted to

sustainable mountain development for mountains and people.

Intergovernmental organization. 8 member countries.

ICIMOD’S role:

Linking Science-Policy-Practice

ICIMOD Governance

• Board of Governors: Representatives of 8 Regional Member

Countries. This year Secretary Mishra from India is Chair.

• Programme Advisory Committee: 7 Independent Board

Members

• ICIMOD Support Group: Financial contributors

ICIMOD HQ in Kathmandu, Nepal

Kathmandu Valley, Nepal

Small mountain basin, 40 x 30 km.

Population >4 million.

18 separate municipalities.

Growing air pollution problem.

Kathmandu Valley Mayor’s Summit on

Air Pollution, 25 October 2018

• Keynote speaker: HE Ambassador of Mexico:– Mexico City shows that there is hope to start improving air

quality…even within mayors’ current terms in office.

– There is no magic solution: Many small steps checked against evidence

Why is Mexico City relevant?

~10 times area of Kathmandu

~6 times population of Kathmandu

KTM MEX

Mexico City

Photos © Arnico Panday

Mexico City

• 20-25 years ago, Mexico City had probably the worst air pollution in the world.

• Birds died while flying and fell out of the sky.

• Ozone exceeded WHO standards 90% days of the year.

• 70,000 people per year died of respiratory illnesses.

• Serious discussion about flattening a mountain and installing fans to blow the pollution out.

• While still polluted, Mexico City today is much more liveable, with pollution levels often below WHO standards.

Photo © Arnico Panday

Air Quality Trends in Mexico City

(Plots presented at ICIMOD by Dr. Luisa Molina,

based on data provided by SEDEMA-GDF)

Late 1980s - early 1990s:

- Air Quality Standards for all

criteria pollutants frequently

exceeded

- Ozone standard exceeded

90% of the days; ozone

peaked above 300 ppb 40-50

days a year

Late 1990s onwards

- Pb, SO2 levels always within

standard

- CO and NO2 standards rarely

exceeded

- Ozone peaked above 300

ppb only 3-4 days a year

Policy interventions:

• Shut down oil refinery

• Low sulfur diesel

• Unleaded petrol

• Catalytic converters

• Moving industries out of the city

• Ongoing improvements in fuel standards

• Restrictions on private vehicles

• Improved inspection & maintenance

• Focus on big emitting vehicles: – 2000 city buses and all old taxis replaced

– Larger microbuses

• Expansion of public transport: metro, BRT,

• Bicycle lanes & bike sharing

so2

lead

CO down 2/3

Achievements a result of many steps…

Air quality monitoring in Mexico City

• First started in 1960s.

• Current network set up since 1980s.

• 29 state-of-the-art stations that transmit live data.

• Data received by municipal government’s control centre.

• Data presented to public in form of Air Quality Index “IMECA”.

• Also: good emission inventories, regular air pollution forecasts.

Data communication with public

IMECA information distributed to public via:

• Radio

• SMS, app

• Website

• Facebook

• Twitter

• Children’s webpage

Bad air days (IMECA high) triggers:

• Shut-down of industries

• Restrictions on vehicles

• Reduction of school children’s outdoor

activities

Monitoring network helps

• Reduce population exposure

• Assess effectiveness of policies.

The key lessons from Mexico City

1. It is possible to go from worst to good.

2. Government coordination is essential.

3. Not every measure will succeed.

4. Need good data, good communication and public involvement.

Air pollution in Delhi

Photo © Arnico, ICIMODPhoto © Arnico Panday, ICIMOD

Across much of the Indo-Gangetic

Plains…

Source:

Haze from the IGP can penetrates deep

into Himalayan valleys

Garbage fires

Cause of the difference: not local sources

but regional haze

Garbage fires at duskView of the Kathmandu Valley from Hattiban Resort,

on 28 February 2013 (L) and 2 March 2013 (R)

Photos © Arnico Panday, ICIMOD

Photo © Arnico, ICIMOD

25 December 2012

Interconnected with air pollution: Persistent

winter fog

Affects the lives and livelihoods of hundreds of

millions of poor people.

Photos © Nabin Baral, ICIMOD Still don’t fully understand the

mechanism of its increased

persistence:

Role of winter irrigation.

Role of smoke.

=> Do know it makes the fog worse.

Challenge 1:

Problems and solutions cut across sectors

• Industry

• Transport

• Agriculture

• Energy

• Health

• Livelihoods

• Economies

Photos: © Arnico Panday exceptBottom right photo © Parth Mahapatra

Need institutions that

work across sectors.

Challenge 2:

Issues cut across a large range of scales

Scales ranging across:

• Cloud drop interior & lung cells

• Homes

• Villages and cities

• Valleys and landscapes

• Basins, airsheds and countries.

Transport across boundaries:

• Between lungs and ambient air

• Between indoor and outdoor

• Between municipalities, districts, states.

• Between plains and mountains

• Between nations.

Photos © Arnico Panday, ICIMOD

Increasing:Awareness

CapacityCollaboration

Emissions

The Atmosphere Programme at ICIMOD

ChitwanLumbini

DhulikhelRatnapark

PulchowkLangtang

Thimphu

Pasakha

AQ monitoring stations set up by ICIMOD

in Bhutan and Nepal

LumbiniChitwan

DhulikhelRatnapark

Langtang

Pulchowk

Thimphu

PasakhaPhuentsholing

Gedu

Chele La

Ichhyakamana

Next:

Myanmar: Preliminary measurements & network design.

Pakistan: Pooling together of dispersed instruments into network.

Science-Policy Dialogue November 2017

We work with local and national governments

as well as regional and global bodies.

Cleaner brick kilns

• 2015 earthquake damaged most kilns in Kathmandu => opportunity for cleaner reconstruction of broken kilns.

• Seed funding, design manuals; Kiln owners invested own funds.

• By now all of Kathmandu Valley’s kilns converted to zig-zagfiring with improved insulation.

• Significant reductions in coal use & emissions, while producing better bricks.

• Design spreading elsewhere in Nepal, Pakistan.

• Influenced policy in Pakistan: Shutting down of 20,000+ FCBTKs in Winter 2018-19.

MODIS Terra, 15 February 2008

Two Punjab, One Atmosphere

Science Forum February 2019

Upcoming CPCB – ICIMOD Agreement

• The establishment and building up of a regional knowledge and

data sharing platform at ICIMOD to facilitate improved air pollution

modeling, forecasting and management.

• Facilitation by ICIMOD of South-South learning from China and

India on technologies and experiences with air quality management.

• Facilitation by ICIMOD of access to global expertise and

experiences in air quality management

• Facilitation by ICIMOD of ensemble air pollution modeling and

forecasting among institutions of the region.

• Collaborations related to brick kilns, agricultural open burning, and

other relevant sectors.

• Collaboration on knowledge management and communication

tools.

• Participation by CPCB in science fora and science-policy dialogues

organized by ICIMOD.

Thank you

Conversion from kilns with straight-line

firing to zig-zag

FCBTK Zigzag kiln

FCBTK Zigzag kiln

200-400gm1-1.5Kg