Bhutan State of the Environment Report 2016 says the recent rapid development is putting pressure on air quality in the major urban centres and at several industrial areas.
It says air pollution is emerging issue that poses health risks to human and environment.
The report says there has been an increasing trend in the level of PM10 concentration in Thimphu since 2004.
Assistant Environment Officer from the National Environment Commission, Sonam Dagay said PM10 is suspended dust particles which has a diameter less than 10 microns. He said if the dust particles are more than 10 microns it is breathable. Less than 10 microns is harmful
Air quality in places like in Pasakha, Rinchending and Bajothang has exceeded the national permissible limits.
The report says increased incidences of exceeding the permissible national limits indicate worsening of overall air quality over the years. Increasing number of vehicles, Industrial and mining activities, forest fires and booming construction activities are some of the factors leading to air pollution.
“The air quality monitoring system that we have had till now was not accurate. The machines were operated manually and even the measurements are calculated manually. But now we have installed automated monitoring stations. These stations have advanced technology through which we can collect data every 5 to 10 seconds.”
But till date, no studies have been done to assess the impact of air pollution in Bhutan.
