Dhaka breaks Sunday's air pollution record, one area declared ‘hazardous’

The Dhaka city experienced its highest level of air pollution this season yesterday, Sunday morning.

In this regard, pollution expert and Professor of Chemistry at the University of Dhaka, Abdus Salam, told Prothom Alo, “It can be said with certainty that new records will be set in the coming days. The reason is simple, we have done almost nothing to curb pollution; apart from talking, no effective measures have been taken.” 

Within less than 24 hours, his words proved true. Yesterday, Sunday morning, on the first working day of the week, Dhaka ranked fourth among 127 cities worldwide in terms of air pollution.

However, this Monday morning, at around 8:30 am, Dhaka’s AQI rose to 261, surpassing Sunday’s record.

At that time, Dhaka ranked third among 126 cities globally. Since the start of this dry season, air quality had not deteriorated to such an extent.

Around 8:15 am yesterday, Sunday Dhaka’s average Air Quality Index (AQI) on IQAir was 209, a level considered very unhealthy.

This data was presented by the Switzerland-based organisation IQAir, which regularly reports on global air pollution. Its live or real-time index informs the public about how clean or polluted the air is in a given city, offering warnings when necessary.

As was the case yesterday, Sunday, India’s Delhi remains at the top of the pollution list today, Monday with a score of 577, followed by Lahore, Pakistan, with a score of 313.

Air quality in Dhaka and across Bangladesh is steadily deteriorating. On some days, other cities outside the capital even record worse pollution levels than Dhaka itself.

Speaking to Prothom Alo about Monday’s  air pollution situation, Professor Abdus Salam of the University of Dhaka’s Department of Chemistry stated, “There is absolutely no active work being done to control pollution.

At the very least, the government should now focus on raising public awareness. Hundreds of crores of taka are being spent on pollution control, but where are the results?

Since there has been no improvement, city residents must now take responsibility for their own protection.”

Air quality across eight areas of Dhaka is reported to be extremely poor today, with one location deemed hazardous. This is the icddr,b area in Mohakhali, where the AQI stands at 312. When the index exceeds 300, it is categorised as hazardous.

The AQI levels in other parts of Dhaka are as follows: South Pallabi (282), Eastern Housing in Mirpur (279), Becharam Deuri (263), Kalyanpur (260), Bay’s Edgewater in Gulshan (255), Goran (237) and Grace International School (231).

Given the current air quality in the capital, everyone must wear a mask when going outdoors. Avoid physical exercise in open spaces and keep windows closed to prevent polluted air from entering indoors.