Bishkek - Post Report Question and Answers
What is the air quality like at post (good/moderate/bad)? Are there seasonal air quality issues? Does the air quality have an impact on health?
Terrible air in the winter. Often the worst in the world. If you have bad lungs, don't come here. - Jun 2022
During the summer the sunny blue skies are the norm. In the winter, the coal-burning power plants kick in and toxic mist covers much of the city. Coupled with the tendency of people to burn trash and keep private coal heaters, the air can be just awful in the winter. Snow tends to clear out the air, but we can have days of fog/smog covering the city. It's not as bad as China, but as we don't have good air quality monitoring yet, we don't really know how bad it is. Everyone has air purifiers for the winter. - Aug 2018
Great, a bit of smoke in fall, but it clears out, crystal-clear air 30 minutes from town in the mountains. - Sep 2017
Moderate. Winter is are a bit nasty because everybody burns coal. The intensity varies. Trash burns all over the place in an unorganized fashion. Trash piles or cans will be smoldering for hours on main or residential roads. Summers aren't so bad. Last winter seemed so intense, but I think I've grown accustomed to it. Last year I would always want to open the windows for some "fresh air" and it would smell like a campground instantly. - Jan 2015
I know some people think it's really bad, and it can be in Bishkek on the streets, but overall it's not bad at all especially in comparison to many Asian cities. - May 2014
Mostly good, though there are parts of Bishkek that suffer from the combined heating and power plant's emissions in winter. - Dec 2011
