As of Sunday morning, Dhaka’s air quality has once again been ranked the worst in the world, with an AQI of 237. For years now, Dhaka has often topped the list of worst cities in terms of air quality, and with the onset of winter -- a time when the air quality is consistently dangerous for sensitive groups – it is high time that we had a conversation about the state of Dhaka’s air pollution.
As per the WHO, air pollution kills an estimated seven million people worldwide on an annual basis -- this poses a significant risk for Dhaka residents.
The air quality in Bangladesh as a whole is based on five pollutants with particulate matters PM10, PM2.5 being the most obvious. A huge contributor to these pollutants is the refuse and materials left by under-construction sites -- a phenomenon that has increased due to Dhaka’s perpetual state of development -- and the hazardous smoke generated by kilns in brickfields on the outskirts of the capital.
It is incredibly imperative that any development be conducted in a safe and sustainable way. Historical evidence suggests that unplanned and unsafe development (at least in environmental terms) ends up posing a threat to human health in general. As such, Bangladesh needs to take note. We are already vulnerable due to climate change, and our health care system has a long way to go before it can be called robust. As such, we need to start reining in our pollution levels, especially air pollution, before our last breath comes far too soon.
There is a pressing need for a proper strategy that would take sustainable guidelines for development projects into cognizance. Punitive measures for the worst polluters need to be taken with judiciousness, while subsidies for sustainable development practices, such as the use of “green bricks” over traditional ones, needs to be made more attractive.
There is no other way out of this mess.
Tuesday, June 16, 2026
