Continued monsoon showers have brought welcome relief to Dhaka residents, significantly improving the capital's air quality.
Dhaka ranked 33rd among the world's most polluted cities, recording an Air Quality Index (AQI) score of 64 at 10:32am on Sunday. The city's air quality was classified as "moderate."
Kinshasa of DR Congo, Kolkata of India and Jakarta of Indonesia occupied the first, second and third spot, with AQI scores of 170, 168 and 145, respectively.
Dhaka's air quality remains moderate amid rain
According to AQI standards, a reading between 0 and 50 is considered "good", while 51 to 100 is "moderate."
A reading between 101 and 150 is regarded as "unhealthy for sensitive groups", 151 to 200 as "unhealthy", 201 to 300 as "very unhealthy", and above 301 as "hazardous", posing serious health risks.
The AQI, updated daily, measures how clean or polluted the air is and indicates the potential health effects associated with current air quality.
In Bangladesh, the AQI is calculated based on five major pollutants: particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10), nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), carbon monoxide (CO), sulphur dioxide (SO₂) and ozone.
Dhaka has long struggled with air pollution, with air quality usually deteriorating during the dry winter months and improving during the monsoon season.
Maps
According to the World Health Organization, air pollution causes an estimated 7 million premature deaths worldwide each year, mainly from stroke, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer and acute respiratory infections.