Dhaka Ranks 4th Worst in Air Quality Index

Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka ranked the fourth worst in Air Quality Index (AQI) on Wednesday.

The independent live air-quality index monitor, Air Visual, shows Dhaka’s AQI value as 196 around 8:30am.

India's Delhi topped the list with an AQI score of 296 while China's Beijing and India’s Kolkata stood second and third in the list of poor air cities with AQI values 254 and 217 respectively.

Earlier, on 17 and 23 November, 26 December and 6, 29, 31 January and 9 February, Dhaka had topped the list. The city has been continuously staying within the five most polluted cities around the world.

The AQI is a tool for measuring the daily air quality of any city or country. It refers to the degree of pollution or cleanliness of the air. An AQI score between 201 and 300 indicates the air is unhealthy while a value over 300 refers to the air is highly dangerous with possible serious health complications.

In Bangladesh, the AQI is based on five criteria pollutants including Particulate Matter (PM10 and PM2.5), NO2, CO, SO2 and Ozone (O3).

The environment department has also set national ambient air quality standards for these pollutants. These standards aim to protect against adverse human health impacts.

Dhaka has long been suffering from a number of environmental pollutions including that of air.