We were up on our roof terrace slurping our now almost habitual ‘sundowner’ (imported Belgian beer) hoping to be able to see the sun go down but the air was so very thick that all we could see towards the west was a suggesting of an orange brightness through the murk. We sipped, enjoying a slight breeze with the atmosphere feeling as if we needed a good thunderstorm. The PM 2.5 count – which the WHO suggests should be under 25 – remained over 200, or ‘very unhealthy’. The other morning it topped 267 which is ‘hazardous’.
Even so the birds were ebullient, and as the even star became visible a silent white form swept by, close: a barn owl. The occasional small bat flitted by too and I during the day a plaintive wittering cry alerted me to a pied kingfisher scouting for frogs. It is simply astonishing how nature continues to survive and even sometime thrive in what can only be called a hostile environment.
When the lockdown began in Nepal about three weeks ago the atmosphere rapidly cleared as the streets emptied and we looked forward to daily Himalayan views. And that is exactly what we enjoyed. It made the sundowners feel even more special, with Ganesh
himal displaying his stately paunch – I imagine the elephant-headed god lying flat in his back after a little over-indulgence in his favourite sweet
ladoos.
Then strangely about a week ago the atmosphere turned to mud and I started to wheeze (I’m not asthmatic!) and I felt as if Lord Ganesh was sitting on my chest. The dry sal forests to the south of Kathmandu were burning and that smoky air had moved into the Valley and beyond. Perhaps during other burning seasons – for the forest burns each Spring: it is a natural phenomenon – we blamed the vehicle emissions, brick factories, rubbish burning etc. etc. but these factors were only partly to blame.
In the night then we were vaguely aware of a thunder storm and awoke to clear views – phew! Ganesh
himal was visible again and our PM 2.5 count was only three times the maximum recommended by WHO. And I’ve heard the kingfisher again.
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Even up on the rim of the Valley it is common to see smoke from burning rubbish |
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"Do not litter!" There's a big solid waste problem in urban and semi-urban Nepal |
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Wearing his mask local style, this chap said that the special bean plants he was burning would dispell dangerous diseases and would help protect us from covid |