Dhaka’s air quality was ranked fifth worst in the world on Friday morning.
With an AQI score of 185 at 9:50am, Dhaka's air was classified as “unhealthy”, according to the air quality index.
India’s Kolkata, Pakistan’s Karachi, and China’s Wuhan occupied the first three spots with AQI scores of 291, 214, and 191, respectively.
An AQI between 101 and 200 is considered “unhealthy”, particularly for sensitive groups while an AQI between 201 and 300 is said to be “very unhealthy”. While a reading of 301+ is considered “hazardous”, posing serious health risks to residents.
The AQI, an index for reporting daily air quality, informs people how clean or polluted the air of a certain city is and what associated health effects might be a concern for them.
In Bangladesh, the AQI is based on five criteria pollutants -- Particulate Matter (PM10 and PM2.5), NO2, CO, SO2 and Ozone.
Dhaka has long grappled with air pollution issues. Its air quality usually turns unhealthy in the winter and improves during the monsoon.
As per the World Health Organization (WHO), air pollution kills an estimated seven million people worldwide every year, mainly due to increased mortality from stroke, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer, and acute respiratory infections.
