Khairul Alam: According to the air quality monitoring agency IQ Air, the air quality in Dhaka today (Tuesday) is within acceptable levels. This morning (Bangladesh time), Dhaka’s air quality is among the poorest compared to at least 11 cities worldwide. Among them, the most severely polluted city is Baghdad, the capital of Iraq.
On the other hand, according to IQ Air’s list of live air quality data for major cities around the world as of 9 AM, Dhaka ranks 12th with a score of 96. Baghdad, which tops the list, has a score of 217. In contrast, Salt Lake City in the United States has the best air quality with a score of 12.
In the list, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, ranks second with a score of 153. The cities following Kuala Lumpur are Jakarta, Indonesia, Kuala Lumpur, Qatar’s Doha, Hanoi, Vietnam, Lahore, Pakistan, Dubai, UAE, Hangzhou, China, and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
IQ Air categorizes these cities into six categories among the top 100 cities in the list. The worst category is “Hazardous,” which includes cities with a score of 301 or higher. Currently, Beijing falls into this category.
The following categories are very unhealthy (201-300), unhealthy (151-200), unhealthy for sensitive groups (100-150), moderate (51-100), and good air quality (0-50).