Speaking at a press meet in the capital on Monday Dr Govind Raj Pokhrel, executive director of AEPC said that the center aims to install the mud and metallic IPS in additional 600,000 households throughout the country within the next 5 years.[break}
Interestingly, if the pace does not accelerate, it might take another 20 years to make the entire country free of traditional stoves. The national development index 2011 shows that 3 million households in the country follow traditional cooking method.
Strikingly, the world health organization (WHO) ranks indoor air pollution as the fourth main culprit for deaths in developing countries and adds that 7,500 in Nepal die due to indoor air pollution alone while thousands suffer from different related diseases. Women and children are the most badly affected due to indoor pollution as they remain close to the kitchen for longer hours.
According to Pokhrel, with the instillation of the improved stoves 50 VDCs of 22 districts can now be declared indoor air pollution free households. “It is a significant achievement but more needs to be done in this regard. We plan to install at least 100,000 improved cooking stoves every year for the next 5 years,” he said.
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