Dhaka's air quality continued to be in the 'unhealthy' zone on Tuesday morning. With an air quality index (AQI) score of 155 at 9am, the metropolis ranked eighth in the list of world cities with the worst air quality. An AQI between 101 and 200 is considered 'unhealthy', particularly for sensitive groups. With the advent of winter, the city’s air quality starts deteriorating sharply due to the massive discharge of pollutant particles from construction works, rundown roads, brick kilns and other sources. Read more: Dhaka’s air ‘unhealthy’ this morning Pakistan’s Lahore, India’s Delhi and the UAE’s Dubai occupied the first three spots in the list, with AQI scores of 370, 340 and 180, respectively. An AQI between 201 and 300 is said to be 'poor', while a reading of 301 to 400 is considered 'hazardous', posing serious health risks to residents. In Bangladesh, the AQI is based on five criteria 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 winter and improves during the monsoon. Air pollution consistently ranks among the top risk factors for death and disability worldwide. Breathing polluted air has long been recognised as increasing a person’s chances of developing a heart disease, chronic respiratory diseases, lung infections and cancer, according to several studies. read more: Dhaka’s air ‘unhealthy’ this morning as winter approaches As per the World Health Organization (WHO), air pollution kills an estimated seven million people worldwide every year, largely as a result of increased mortality from stroke, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer and acute respiratory infections.

Even the incessant monsoon showers a day before could not improve Dhaka's air quality as it remained 'unhealthy' on Friday. With an air quality index (AQI) score of 141 at 9.49am, the metropolis ranked sixth in the list of world cities with the worst air quality. India’s Delhi, Chile’s Santiago, and United Arab Emirates’ Dubai occupied the first, second and third spots, with AQI scores of 194, 170 and 160, respectively, in the list. An AQI between 151and 200 is considered 'unhealthy' for everyone and members of sensitive groups may experience more serious health effects. Also read: Dhaka's air quality remains ‘unhealthy’ Similarly, an AQI between 201 and 300 is said to be 'poor', while a reading of 301 to 400 is considered 'hazardous', posing serious health risks to residents. AQI, an index for reporting daily air quality, is used by government agencies to inform 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. Dhaka has long been grappling with air pollution issues. Its air quality usually turns unhealthy in winter and improves during the monsoon. Also read: Dhaka’s air quality improves A report by the Department of Environment (DoE) and the World Bank in March 2019 pointed out that the three main sources of air pollution in Dhaka "are brick kilns, fumes from vehicles and dust from construction sites". With the advent of winter, the city’s air quality starts deteriorating sharply due to the massive discharge of pollutant particles from construction work, rundown roads, brick kilns and other sources. Air pollution consistently ranks among the top risk factors for death and disability worldwide. Breathing polluted air has long been recognised as increasing a person’s chances of developing a heart disease, chronic respiratory diseases, lung infections and cancer, according to several studies. As per the World Health Organization (WHO), air pollution kills an estimated seven million people worldwide every year, largely as a result of increased mortality from stroke, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer and acute respiratory infections.

Dhaka's air quality continues to be 'unhealthy', though it is no longer the world's most polluted city. On Tuesday, the densely populated capital of Bangladesh occupied the sixth position in the latest list of world cities with the worst air quality. The capital's air quality index (AQI) was recorded at 129 at 11.20am. Also read: Dhaka’s air quality turns unhealthy again Saudi Arabia's Riyadh, Iran's Tehran and Russia's Krasnoyarsk occupied the first three spots, with AQI scores of 184, 170, and 157, respectively. An AQI between 101 and 200 is considered 'unhealthy', particularly for sensitive groups. Similarly, an AQI between 201 and 300 is said to be 'poor', while a reading of 301 to 400 is considered 'hazardous', posing serious health risks to residents. AQI, an index for reporting daily air quality, is used by government agencies to inform 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. Dhaka has long been grappling with air pollution issues. Its air quality usually turns unhealthy in winter and improves during the monsoon. A report by the Department of Environment (DoE) and the World Bank in March 2019 pointed out that the three main sources of air pollution in Dhaka "are brick kilns, fumes from vehicles and dust from construction sites". With the advent of winter, the city’s air quality starts deteriorating sharply due to the massive discharge of pollutant particles from construction work, rundown roads, brick kilns and other sources. Also read: Dhaka's air quality turns 'good' Air pollution consistently ranks among the top risk factors for death and disability worldwide. Breathing polluted air has long been recognised as increasing a person’s chances of developing a heart disease, chronic respiratory diseases, lung infections and cancer, according to several studies. As per the World Health Organization (WHO), air pollution kills an estimated seven million people worldwide every year, largely as a result of increased mortality from stroke, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer and acute respiratory infections.

Dhaka's air quality continues to be 'unhealthy', but the densely populated capital of Bangladesh is no longer the world's most polluted city. With an air quality index (AQI) reading at 196 at 8.57am, the capital has slipped to the third position in the latest list of world cities with the worst air quality. Myanmar’s Yangon and Pakistan’s Lahore occupied the first and third spots, with AQI scores of 210 and 179, respectively. An AQI between 101 and 200 is considered 'unhealthy', particularly for sensitive groups. Similarly, an AQI between 201 and 300 is said to be 'poor', while a reading of 301 to 400 is considered 'hazardous', posing serious health risks to residents. Read: Air quality worst in Gazipur, best in Madaripur: Study AQI, an index for reporting daily air quality, is used by government agencies to inform 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. Dhaka has long been grappling with air pollution issues. Its air quality usually turns unhealthy in winter and improves during the monsoon. A report by the Department of Environment (DoE) and the World Bank in March 2019 pointed out that the three main sources of air pollution in Dhaka "are brick kilns, fumes from vehicles and dust from construction sites". With the advent of winter, the city’s air quality starts deteriorating sharply due to the massive discharge of pollutant particles from construction work, rundown roads, brick kilns and other sources. Read: No respite for Dhaka residents as air quality still ‘unhealthy’ Air pollution consistently ranks among the top risk factors for death and disability worldwide. Breathing polluted air has long been recognised as increasing a person’s chances of developing a heart disease, chronic respiratory diseases, lung infections and cancer, according to several studies. As per the World Health Organization (WHO), air pollution kills an estimated seven million people worldwide every year, largely as a result of increased mortality from stroke, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer and acute respiratory infections.

Dhaka occupied the 4th position on Monday morning in the list of world cities with the worst air quality.  The city’s Air Quality Index (AQI) score was 178 around 09.44 am, indicating that the quality was unhealthy. Pakistan’s Lahore and India’s Delhi and Croatia’s Zagreb occupied the first three slots with AQI scores of 398, 220 and 197 respectively. An AQI between 101 and 200 is considered 'unhealthy', particularly for sensitive groups of people like children and elderly population. AQI, an index for reporting daily air quality, is used by government agencies to inform people how clean or polluted the air of a certain city is, and what associated health effects might be a concern for them. Read Dhaka is world's most polluted city In Bangladesh, the AQI is based on five criteria pollutants - Particulate Matter (PM10 and PM2.5), NO2, CO, SO2 and Ozone. Dhaka has long been grappling with air pollution. Its air quality usually turns unhealthy during winter and improves during monsoon.  

Authorities need to work out a special action plan to control Dhaka’s terrible dust pollution as it turns worse in every winter, particularly from November to February, posing a serious health hazard to city dwellers, said environmental experts. With the advent of winter, the city’s air quality starts deteriorating sharply due to the massive discharge of pollutant particles from construction works, rundown roads, brick kilns and other sources, they said. To control the dust pollution, the experts suggested sweeping the city’s roads with water regularly, covering construction sites and materials, and stopping the movement of overloaded and unfit motor vehicles in the city. Ainun Nishat, Professor Emeritus at BRAC University, told UNB that dust particles from construction sites, earth filing and roads, black smoke from overloaded motor vehicles and traditional brick kilns located surrounding Dhaka are largely responsible for making the city’s air quality in winter even worse. He said brick kilns remain in operation in the winter season, badly polluting the city’s air with the discharge of thick black smoke. “So, the brick kilns should be modernised as soon as possible,” he added. City roads in the developed countries are regularly washed with river water to control air pollution, Prof Nishat said, adding that the Dhaka roads should also be swept with water every day, especially during the dry season. “Dust pollution is there in almost every country and they’ve their own plans to minimize it. But we make no effort to control it in our country,” said Prof Nishat. The environmental expert suggested covering construction sites, spraying water on construction materials, and checking overloaded motor vehicles, which are mainly responsible for emitting black smoke. Read Lung cancer on the rise in Bangladesh: Report

The air quality of Dhaka city has made a marked improvement by some 45pc on average a day during the first seven days of the Covid-19 lockdown due to the low level of emissions. According to a survey conducted by Center for Atmospheric Pollution Studies (CAPS) of Stamford University Bangladesh, four reasons effectively worked behind the strange improvement in the air quality.   Read Dhaka keeps grappling with ‘hazardous’ air It said low traffic flow, suspension of road renovation and construction works and lack of activities to burn wastes led to the improvement in the air quality though it is said to be a short-lived gain. Even the air pollution declined by 70pc in some areas in the city during the April 14-21 period, the survey says. Read No respite from pollution as Dhaka’s air quality still ‘unhealthy’ The survey was carried out under a project titled “Promoting Democratic Governance and Collective Advocacy for Environmental Protection in Dhaka City” with financial support from USAID and UKAid. As part of the survey, the air quality was measured using automatic equipment for eight hours a day in 10 areas of the capital. Also read: Dhaka is world's most polluted city The measurement showed that the air quality has improved on average 45pc a day from April 14 to 21 last.

Dhaka’s air quality showed an 'acceptable' sign for the second consecutive day on Thursday morning as it ranked the 29th worst in the Air Quality Index (AQI).   The air in Dhaka was categorised as ‘moderate’ as the megacity had an AQI score of 58 at 08:53am.   When the AQI remains in between 51 and 100, there may be a risk for some people who may be unusually sensitive to particle pollution.   However, the air quality is 'acceptable'.

After showing a marked improvement in its quality for the last few days, Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka  ranked worst again in the Air Quality Index (AQI) on Monday morning.   The mega city had an AQI score of 173 at 08:41am and its air quality was classified as ‘unhealthy’.   When the AQI scores between 151 and 200, some members of the general public may experience health effects and members of sensitive groups may start experience more serious health effects.

Despite arrival of monsoon, Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka ranked the 7th worst polluted city in the world in the Air Quality Index (AQI) on Tuesday morning.   The air in Dhaka was categorised as ‘unhealthy for sensitive groups’ in the morning and the megacity had an AQI score of 109 at 08:29am.   When the AQI remains in between 101 and 150, members of sensitive groups may experience health effects. The general public is less likely to be affected in this condition.