Air Quality Index Set to Be Launched Soon

The National Air Quality Index (AQI) will soon be launched in major cities across the country, including the capital of Dhaka, to identify the level of air pollution and thus help people to remain aware of 'bad air' days.

“The process for introduction of the national AQI is now at the final stage. We’ll formally launch it soon,” additional secretary of the Environment, Forest and Climate Change Ministry Md Moniruzzaman told BSS.

AQI is a tool for reporting the quality of daily air in any city or country. It shows how clean or polluted the air is and what health effects could be of concern to the public.

It focuses on the health effects that one may experience within a few hours or days of breathing in contaminated air.

Moniruzzaman said, the Department of Environment (DoE) is now getting air quality data instantly from 16 stations installed in different cities under its Clean Air and Sustainable Environment (CASE) Project, while it is collecting data from 15 stations one day after the data is generated.

“Of course, we’ve to launch an AQI and we’ll do so to know about the quality of our air and its pollution,” he added.

Globally, AQI is used as an effective tool to raise public awareness and promote aggressive action to control pollution and reduce daily peak levels of pollution.

DoE Director Md Ziaul Haque said that his department is seriously considering launching a national AQI for the country so that people can be informed about air quality.

“We’re waiting for the clearance from the ministry to introduce the AQI. If the government takes decision to this end, we’ve the capacity to do it. And we’re ready (for it),” he said.

Ziaul said, the DoE has a software that will need to be installed to launch the national AQI.

The DoE with support from the World Bank prepared the draft AQI under the CASE project.

According to environmental experts and activists, the AQI can be used to inform people of the daily air quality and provide advisories on health consequences.

Once an integrated air quality index is launched, it will alert people about possible health consequences. This can help build mass awareness as well as public support, which will push the authorities concerned to take hard decisions to ensure cleaner air, they said.

Paribesh Bachao Andolan (Poba) chairman Abu Naser Khan said air pollution is increasing fast in the country due to various reasons including development works and unfit vehicles plying streets, which needs to be addressed immediately considering public health.

With an effort to check air pollution, monitoring is an important factor and the AQI is the best way to monitor air quality, he said.

If the AQI is introduced, it will help the government take effective policies considering the data of air quality, Naser Khan said, adding both the government as well as the common people will be benefited from it.

As per the global standard, air pollution levels have been classified in six bands with simple descriptions to help people understand.

Each band has cut points of concentration with a colour code to visually express the level of severity that people can comprehend easily. Air quality is classified good if the pollution levels are at least 50 percent below the regulatory standards.