Dhaka's position has been fluctuating from first to third in the list of the top polluter cities in the world for the last few months.
The Air Quality Index (AQI) of Dhaka was recorded at 232 on Thursday morning. The city once again topped the list of world cities with the worst air quality.
The capital’s Air Quality Index (AQI) score was recorded at 184 at on Saturday morning. The city ranked first in the list of cities with polluted air on that day as well.
On Thursday, the second and third spots were occupied by China’s Beijing and Pakistan’s Lahore, with AQI scores of 219 and 183 respectively.
According to experts, the transport sector is one of the major sources of air pollution in Bangladesh. There are two sources of air pollution in Dhaka city due to burning of something. One of them is vehicles, and the other is brick kilns or waste incineration.
A recent study by the Centre for Atmospheric Pollution Studies (CAPS) of Stamford University showed that constructions account for roughly 30 percent of pollution, whereas brick kilns and industries hold the second position (29 percent) followed by black fumes from vehicles (15 percent), transnational air pollution (10 percent), cooking stoves (9 percent) and waste incineration (7 percent).
An AQI between 101 and 200 is considered 'unhealthy', particularly for sensitive groups. AQI between 201 and 300 is said to be 'poor', while a reading of 301 to 400 is considered 'hazardous', as it poses serious health risks.
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.
