Dhaka woke up on Sunday to an Air Quality Index reading of 167, which the index classifies as "unhealthy."
Dhaka has long been among the most polluted cities in the world, and yet, with winter fast approaching and the imminent threat of air that is simply not fit to breathe, we continue to do little to address it.
The causes are no mystery: Brick kilns on the city's fringes, many operating with little regard for the rules; construction sites that leave sand and debris uncovered; roads dug up and rebuilt in a never-ending cycle; and a clogged, fume-spewing traffic system.
What remains missing is the will to act on them. Every year, the authorities announce drives, fines, and demolitions, and every year, the air gets no cleaner. Such efforts begin loudly, fade quietly, and return only when the numbers make headlines again.
Pollution control cannot be a seasonal activity, any more than breathing is.
The cost, meanwhile, is being paid by ordinary people. The World Health Organization estimates that air pollution kills around seven million people worldwide each year, mostly through stroke, heart disease, lung cancer, and respiratory infections.
For those in Dhaka, where millions are outdoors at all times, those figures show up in crowded hospital corridors, missed school days, and lost income.
By now, there are no secrets to solutions: From construction sites needing to follow dust control rules, to brick kilns needing to be regulated, to accelerating cleaner energy and technologies that already exist.
Clean air should never be viewed as a luxury nor a favour. It is something every citizen is owed. A city that cannot guarantee it has failed at the most basic test of governance.
We should not wait for the smog to thicken before we remember that. The time to act is now, while we can still breathe.