In a bid to bring down dust pollution in the Capital, the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has started spraying water on roads. The metropolis launched the move on Monday night, deploying four tankers and two fire engines to wash dirt and soil away on the Putali Sadak-Singha Durbar stretch. 

“We will spray 70,000 litres of water on the roads every night which will help the dirt and soil wash away. This will help control pollution to an extent,” said KMC Spokesperson Gyanendra Karki, adding that the metropolis would be using water from Baisdhara in Balaju for the purpose. 

The ongoing pipe-laying work for the Melamchi Water Supply Project has produced dangerous pollution levels in the Valley. 

Under the project, some 670km of pipeline needs to be installed to supply water to the target groups. While around 540km pipeline has been laid underground at 40 places,  150km road remains to be blacktopped, according to Tiresh Prasad Khatri, director of the Project Implementation Directorate at the Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited. 

The KMC said water would be sprinkled on the major road sections with high traffic volumes such as Maitighar, New Baneshwor, Koteshwor, Airport area, Kamaladi, Thapathali, Kalanki, Ratnapark and Sheetal Niwas area between 9pm and 12am on alternative nights.  

The metropolis’ latest move has evoked mixed reactions from the public. Some have welcomed it expressing hope that it will bring out some improvement, but others remain unconvinced it will solve the unprecedented level of pollution plaguing the Valley. Environmentalists say sprinkling of water on the roads at night will reduce the level of dust pollution to some extent, giving a temporary relief to the citizens, but it is not a long-term solution.

KMC Chief Executive Officer Ishwor Raj Poudel has, however, assured that they would be a long term project. “This initiative has been taken to ease the daily life of denizens of the metropolis, it should not be taken negatively,” said Poudel.