Himal Cement Company has a production capacity of 360 tonnes a day, but it is working only at one-third capacity at present. It has two stacks that are more than 30m in height, but since the factory is located in a gully behind Chobhar Gorge, the dust and smoke is trapped in a secondary inversion layer and "overflows" into the valley depending on prevailing winds.

The factory consumes about 20 tonnes of coal and emits about 2.5 tonnes of ash, soot and dust from the stacks daily. Another 10 tonnes of dust is blown out every day from the limestone quarry above the factory. Although bag filters and wet scrubbers were brought in 1993, they are lying in the factory premises and were never installed, according to one former employee.

Dust particles in the air are harmful to people, and depending on the size they either affect the upper respiratory tract and cause infections, or go deep into the lungs and lead to asthma and lung disorders-especially if breathed over extended periods. Every year, Himal Cement emits 6,000 tonnes of larger dust particles which settle in the villages and upper-class residential areas of Bhaisepati and Godavari downwind from the factory, Another 800 tonnes of particles, below 10 microns in size, rise higher and are trapped in the inversion layer in winter and settle all over the Valley. An additional 615 tonnes of sulphur dioxide are also emitted.