Dhaka’s air quality was marked as moderate on Wednesday morning; thin traffic on the city streets during the Eid holidays can be attributed to that.
With an air quality index (AQI) score of 82 at 9am, Dhaka ranked 14th on the list of cities worldwide with the worst air quality.
Democratic Republic of the Congo's Kinshasa, Uganda’s Kampala and Indonesia’s Jakarta occupied the first, second and three spots on the list, with AQI scores of 172, 165 and 155, respectively.
An AQI score between 51 and 100 is considered moderate, between 101 and 150 is considered unhealthy, and between 201 and 300 is said to be very unhealthy, while a reading of 301 and above is considered hazardous, posing serious health risks to residents.
Study: Air pollution linked to 135 million premature deathsIn Bangladesh, the AQI is based on five criteria pollutants — Particulate Matter (PM10 and PM2.5), NO2, CO, SO2 and Ozone.
Dhaka has long been grappling with air pollution issues. Its air quality usually turns unhealthy in winter and improves during the monsoon.
As per the World Health Organisation, air pollution kills an estimated seven million people worldwide every year, largely as a result of increased mortality from stroke, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer and acute respiratory infections.
