Dhaka air pollution highest in 8 years

Dhaka saw the highest level of air pollution in eight years in 2023 as the air pollution is increasing in the city.

According to an analysis of Stamford University’s Centre for Atmospheric Pollution Studies (CAPS), Dhaka's average score in the Air Quality Index (AQI) was 171 in 2023, which was 163 in the previous year.

Scores between 151 and 200 in the Air Quality Index are considered 'unhealthy'. As the score increases, the quality will be worse.

People are suffering due to the worsening quality of air in Dhaka. The number of respiratory diseases among the people in the capital is increasing. Especially children and elderly people have been suffering. Additional money is being spent for treatment, which is creating more pressure amid high inflation.

Saima Islam, a resident of Mirpur in Dhaka, took her child to a physician in Dhanmondi on Monday. Her child has been suffering from a cough for a long time.

Allergy in her child's blood is very high due to the air pollution, she quoted the physician as saying while speaking to Prothom Alo.

Saima said she spent Tk 2,000 for the physician's consultancy fee and auto-rickshaw fare. She had to spend Tk 650 for the test. She also spent Tk 4500 for medicine. In total, she spent over Tk 7,000.

She said, "If we could leave Dhaka, we would be relieved. We can't bear the suffering of the son."

The New Year started on Monday. On that day, Dhaka was the most polluted city among 109 cities in the world. Dhaka was above all on Tuesday too.

According to information from Switzerland-based organisation IQA, the score of Dhaka in the Air Quality Index was 281 at 9:00pm on Tuesday, which is 'very unhealthy'. The next top five cities were Delhi, Kolkata, Lahore and China's Shenyang.

There are six categories in the Air Quality Index. The categories are determined in accordance with the score. The main source of pollution in Dhaka air is particulate matter (PM 2.5). The score is determined based on the presence of particulate matter.

According to the IQA indicator, the quality of air is considered good if the score of a city is 50 or less.

Score between 51 and 100 is acceptable, 151-200 unhealthy, 201-300 very unhealthy and 301+ is 'disastrous' or 'risky'.

Conducting an analysis, CAPS has shown the quality of air in Dhaka was unhealthy for the sensitive group (children and elderly people) for four years (2016, 2017, 2019 and 2020) in eight years from 2016 to 2023. The remaining four years including the last three years were unhealthy.

CAPS chairman Ahmad Kamruzzaman Majumder said, "The dreadful thing is that the air quality in Dhaka is increasing after 2020. The air pollution is increasing. But effective measures are not being taken to control air pollution. Some sort of inactivity is being noticed."

The quality of air in Dhaka remains the worst in winter. It remains acceptable in the rainy season. As per CAPS analysis, the quality of air was the worst in January every year except 2022. The quality was less bad in July and August as it rains in these two months.

So residents in Dhaka breathe in fresh air if it rains. After the rainy season, the pollution starts increasing since October.

Although the average quality of air in Dhaka was the worst in 2023, such conditions were in all the months. CAPS analysis said the air pollution was less in March, June, July, September, November and December than the corresponding months in the previous year.

Environment department deputy director (air quality management) Mohammad Abdul Motalib said, "The pollution has increased. Sources of pollution include the subcontinent's polluted wind, smoke from cooking and factories and pollution of the vehicles. Efforts are on to control sources."

When the issue of air pollution comes to the fore, the officials responsible for controlling pollution bring forth the subcontinent's polluted wind.

According to a World Bank study published in March last year, ' Striving for Clean Air: Air Pollution and Public Health in South Asia', the same array of clouds fly over four South Asian countries including Bangladesh. Polluted air takes shelter in those clouds, which spread polluted air in Bangladesh too.

According to researchers, the liability of this wind for the air pollution in Dhaka is not over 30 per cent on average. The local source is liable for the remaining air pollution. Some operations are conducted merely in name to stop the sources. Coordinated and effective steps are hardly taken.
Emission of black smoke from old vehicles is one of the big reasons for air pollution in Dhaka.

According to the website of the environment department, only an operation was conducted against the emission of black some in December. During the operation, five vehicles were fined Tk 8,050 in Tikatuli in Old Dhaka.

According to the information of the environment department, the government has spent USD 65 million (now about Tk 7.20 billion) through two projects between 2000 and 2019 to tackle air pollution. The government has taken another project titled 'Bangladesh Sustainable Environment and Transformation' for the management of air, water pollution and waste. The World Bank is financing USD 2.5 million (Tk 12.50 billion).

Experts said the money will be spent if a project is taken. The air pollution cannot be controlled if old vehicles are not withdrawn, polluting brick kilns are not shut and construction materials are not managed properly.
Dhaka University Chemistry Department professor Abdus Salam has been working on air pollution for a long time. He said, "Effective steps are not seen to control pollution from local sources including factories and vehicles. Many projects have been taken, but those have not yielded any results."

According to the World Bank, around 78,000-88000 people died due to health hazards caused by the air pollution in Bangladesh in 2019. There is no data as to how many people have been contracting diseases due to air pollution in the capital.

As per National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD), the number of patients was 10,259 outdoors in 2022. The number of patients was 11373 in eleven months till November in 2023.

Speaking to Prothom Alo, cardiovascular specialist Abdus Shakur Khan said the number of lung patients has increased after the coronavirus broke out. This disease has a link with air pollution.

He said, "Various lung diseases among children and elderly people are now spreading, which were not noticed in the past."

*This story, originally published in Prothom Alo print and online editions, has been rewritten in English by Rabiul Islam