Dhaka, one the most polluted cities in the world, ranked the 3rd worst in the Air Quality Index (AQI) on Tuesday afternoon.
The air in Dhaka was categorised as ‘very unhealthy’ as the capital city had an AQI score of 247 at 12:23 pm.
When the AQI score is between 201 and 300, every city dweller is likely to be affected.
Delhi of India and Lahore of Pakistan occupied the first and second place in the list of cities with the worst air quality with AQI scores of 282 and 273 respectively.
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 (O3).
Bangladesh has a subtropical monsoon climate characterized by wide seasonal variations in rainfall, high temperatures and humidity.
Generally, Dhaka’s air starts getting fresh when rain starts from mid-June. The air remains mostly acceptable during monsoon from June to October.
Air pollution consistently ranks among the top risk factors for death and disability worldwide. Breathing polluted air has long been recognized as increasing a person’s chances of developing heart disease, chronic respiratory diseases, lung infections, and cancer, according to the report.
As per the World Health Organization (WHO), the 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.
Over 80 percent living in urban areas which monitor air pollution are exposed to air quality levels that exceed WHO guideline limits, with low- and middle-income countries most at risk, WHO estimated.
