Desk Report : Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka, ranks first today among the world’s cities with the worst air pollution. According to the Air Quality Index (AQI), Dhaka recorded a score of 157, placing its air quality in the ‘unhealthy’ category.

This information was reported at 10 a.m. on Saturday by IQAir, a Switzerland-based air quality monitoring organization.

The primary pollutant contributing to Dhaka’s air pollution is the presence of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in the air.
This morning, the concentration of these tiny particles in the air was more than 12 times higher than the World Health Organization’s (WHO) recommended limit.

The most polluted air in Dhaka at that time was recorded in the Shialbari Government Officers’ Quarter area of Mirpur 6, with an AQI of 180.

Other heavily polluted areas on the list include: Eastern Housing in Mirpur (165), Base Edgewater on Madani Avenue (164), Shanta Forum in Tejgaon (158), Gulshan Lake Park (157), Grace International School (157), and ICDDR,B in Mohakhali (153). Air quality in these areas is considered highly ‘unhealthy’.

IQAir, a Switzerland-based organization, provides live or real-time indexes to indicate how clean or polluted a city’s air is. According to its standards:

• A score between 0 and 50 is considered good.
• 51 to 100 is moderate or acceptable.
• 101 to 150 is unhealthy for sensitive groups.
• 151 to 200 is unhealthy.
• 201 to 300 is considered very unhealthy.
• Scores above 301 are deemed hazardous.