Seven more air quality monitoring stations will be added in Kathmandu and Pokhara by the end of this fiscal year, according to the Department of Environment. 

Safala Shrestha, deputy director general at the DoE, said three of these stations will be set up in Pokhara and four in Kathmandu.  

Air quality monitoring stations have already been installed at Ratnapark, Dhulikhel and Pulchowk inside Kathmandu Valley. 

The new ones will be set up at Shankha Park, Kirtipur, Bhaktapur and Budhanilkantha.

Currently, there are five air quality monitoring stations in the country, three of them inside Kathmandu Valley; one in Sauraha, Chitwan; and the other in Lumbini, Rupandehi.

The government plans to install air quality monitoring stations at 56 places across the country, Shrestha said.

The air quality monitoring stations measure Particulate Matters (PM), which are the amount of airborne solid particles, liquid droplets and other air pollutants in the form of ozone, nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide and carbon monoxide.  

PMs are categorised based on their aerodynamic diametres measured in micrometre, which is one thousand times smaller than a millimetre. 

PM 2.5 is particulate matter that is 2.5 micrometres or below. It is considered the most harmful to humans. PM 10 is particulate matter that is 10 micrometres or below.