Published: 11:07 AM, 19 March 2020
Dhaka’s air quality still ‘unhealthy
Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka ranked fifth worst in Air Quality Index (AQI) on Thursday morning.
It had an AQI score of 168 at 09:02am. The air was classified as ‘unhealthy’.
Thailand’s Chiang Mai, Pakistan’s Lahore and India’s Delhi occupied the first, second and third spots with scores of 230 and 224 and 223 respectively.
When the AQI value is between 101 and 150, members of sensitive groups may experience health effects while general public is less likely to be affected.
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.
