Dhaka’s air ‘unhealthy for sensitive groups’ this morning

Dhaka's air quality was categorised as ‘unhealthy for sensitive groups’ on Thursday morning.

With an air quality index (AQI) score of 106 at 10:19am, Dhaka ranked 11th on the list of cities worldwide with the worst air quality.

Pakistan's Lahore, India’s Delhi and Nepal’s Kathmandu occupied the first, second and third spots in the list, with AQI scores of 214, 175 and 170, respectively.

When the AQI value for particle pollution is between 101 and 150, air quality is considered ‘unhealthy for sensitive groups’, between 150 and 200 is ‘unhealthy’, 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.

The AQI in Bangladesh is based on five 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 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.