Dhaka’s air still ‘unhealthy’

Although all the activities, including vehicular movement, remained halted in the capital amid the ongoing nationwide shutdown aimed at curbing coronavirus, Dhaka ranked fourth worst in the Air Quality Index (AQI) on Wednesday morning.
 
It had an AQI score of 155 at 08:24am. The air was classified as ‘unhealthy’.

When the AQI value is between 151 and 200, everyone may begin to experience health effects. Members of sensitive groups may experience more serious health effects.

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Vietnam’s Hanoi, Pakistan’s Lahore and India’s Delhi occupied the first three spots in the list of cities with the worst air quality with AQI scores of 182, 162 and 158 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).
 
Dhaka has long been grappling with air pollution. Its air quality usually improves during monsoon.