Dhaka ranks 13th in the list of cities worldwide with the worst air quality, with an AQI score of 82 at 9:00 am on Monday.
Dhaka’s air was classified as 'moderate’ on Monday morning and according to the Air Quality Index, this trend has continued for the past few days under the influence of monsoon rains.
If the AQI value for particulate pollution is between 50 and 100, the air quality is 'moderate’, between 101 and 150, the air quality is 'unhealthy for sensitive groups’, between 150 and 200 is 'unhealthy’, and between 201 and 300 is 'extremely unhealthy’. Unhealthy’, while a reading of 301+ is considered 'hazardous’, posing serious health risks to residents.
Democratic Republic of Congo’s Kinshasa, Uganda’s Kampala and Indonesia’s Jakarta ranked first, second and third on the list with AQI scores of 194, 174 and 162 respectively.
AQI, an index for daily air quality reporting, tells people how clean or polluted the air is in a particular city and what the associated health effects are.
The AQI in Bangladesh is based on five pollutants – particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5), NO2, CO, SO2 and ozone.
Dhaka has been facing air pollution problems for a long time. Its air quality generally becomes unhealthy during winters and improves during monsoons.
According to the World Health Organization, air pollution kills seven million people worldwide each year, mainly deaths from stroke, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer and acute respiratory infections.