The National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA) says over the past month, the air quality in Kabul city has deteriorated and become more polluted.

NEPA officials said that the lack of electricity, extensive use of unrefined coal and burning of plastic are major factors of air pollution in the capital.

“Air pollution has various causes. Damaged roads, the wide spread of dust and the use of vehicles that have technical problems, pollute the air,” said Sayed Qayyum Hashemi, an expert at NEPA.

Hashemi added that teams from this department are checking buildings and residential areas to make sure homes with burners have filters installed.

“Install filters and always keep filters active and where necessary and where possible, we encourage the commercial sector to use alternative fuels,” he said.

The Ministry of Public Health’s spokesman Sharaf Zaman also said that the number of people suffering from respiratory diseases due to air pollution is increasing in the country.

Kabul residents meanwhile say they are unable to breathe the air in the capital these days.

“The air is polluted, nothing can be seen after five in the evening, people get sick,” said a Kabul resident.

Kabul is one of the most polluted cities in the world. Even though billions of dollars poured into the country in the last two decades and huge sums of money was used to fight climate change, the air quality in Kabul continues to deteriorate.