Air pollution choking Dhaka, other major cities

There were once large trees on both sides of the road from Tentultala to Lalbagh Hat and from the DC intersection to the Cantonment intersection in Rangpur town. The trees were planted between 1914 and 1916 to enhance the beauty of the town, an initiative led by the then Deputy Commissioner, JN Gupta, when Carmichael College was established in Rangpur.

The expansion of education and the greening of the town to enhance its aesthetics occurred almost simultaneously, said Mustafa Tofail Hossain, author of the book History of Greater Rangpur.

He added, “These century-old trees in the city have been cut down and cleared over the past 15 to 20 years. If a tree poses a risk, it must be cut down. However, trees must also be planted to replace them, but this has not been done.”

Since the large trees began disappearing from the northern city, air pollution has increased. Despite there being few factories in the town or its surrounding areas, the level of pollution in Rangpur is now comparable to that of Dhaka, the country’s most polluted city.

Most of the trees currently in Rangpur town are about 10 years old. Highlighting this, Mostafizur Rahman, a teacher in the Department of Geography and Environmental Science at Begum Rokeya University in Rangpur, said, “Construction work is ongoing every 200 meters across the city. As a result, dust and sand are spreading. However, there are none of the trees needed to combat this pollution.”

The problem of air pollution is not limited to Rangpur. It has also spread to other towns in the north, such as Rajshahi, once known for its clean air, and Mymensingh, a beautiful city on the banks of the Brahmaputra.

Pollution is also affecting the port city of Chattogram and the southern city of Khulna. Along with pollution, there has been a rise in various respiratory diseases caused by its effects. It is widely believed that there is a lack of government action to address the issue. Pollution continues to escalate, in parallel with the execution of project after project and the implementation of various policies.

With time air pollution in Dhaka continues to worsen. Last November, the city’s air pollution reached its highest level in the past eight years. This data is monitored by Stamford University’s Centre for Atmospheric Pollution Studies (CAPS).

According to the organisation’s findings, Dhaka’s Air Quality Index (AQI) in November was 176.66, the highest in the last eight years (2016-2023). AQI value this November reached 195, marking an increase of more than 10 per cent compared to the past nine years. In comparison to 2023, the AQI rose by 11.5 per cent.

The study revealed that, in November, residents of Dhaka were unable to breathe clean or healthy air for a single day. One day in November, the air quality was classified as “moderate”. Four days had “warning” levels of air quality, 12 days were rated “unhealthy,” and 13 days had “very unhealthy” air quality.

The situation worsened in December, with Dhaka’s air quality significantly declining. Not a single day in the first nine days of December had good air quality. In fact, on 5 December, the air quality reached its worst level of the year. 

At around 9:00 am that day, Dhaka’s AQI was recorded at 341 on IQAir’s air quality index. The air quality remained above 300 for nearly nine hours that day, and from 4:00 am to 9:00 am on Monday, it stayed above 300 for about five consecutive hours.

Professor Kamruzzaman Majumder, Chairman of CAPS, told Prothom Alo, “If the air quality in a region stays above 300 for three consecutive days or for three hours, a health emergency should be declared. Given the current conditions in Dhaka, at the very least, an emergency advisory should be issued to the public. Yet, there has been no indication of any action from the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Environment, or the Ministry of Local Government.”

In 2016, Rajshahi gained international recognition when a report by the British newspaper The Guardian highlighted the city as the first in the world to significantly reduce airborne particles harmful to human health.

Between 2014 and 2016, the concentration of such particles in Rajshahi decreased by more than 67 per cent. The second most successful city globally was Ahvaz, Iran.

Citing data from the World Health Organisation (WHO), the report attributed Rajshahi’s clean air to stricter regulations on brick kilns, extensive greening initiatives, and the widespread use of battery-powered vehicles.

However, those days of clean air are now a thing of the past. Pollution in Rajshahi has surged significantly. Yesterday morning, the city’s air quality was measured at 170 on the IQAir index, a level classified as unhealthy.

Chowdhury Sarwar Jahan, an environmental expert and former professor at the Department of Geology and Mining at Rajshahi University, explained that there was a time when dust from the Padma River would spread across the city.

To address this, the city corporation initiated greening efforts, which helped reduce pollution levels over time. However, over the past four to five years, pollution has been on the rise.

According to Sarwar Jahan, the main cause of this increase is unplanned urbanisation.

He noted that there is no proper construction management in place, and, aside from greening efforts, there has been little action to curb pollution.

A unit of pollution measurement known as Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) helps quantify various airborne pollutants, including dust, fossil fuel combustion products, and factory smoke.

In 2021, the Department of Chemistry at Dhaka University, with the assistance of artificial satellites, measured the AOD levels in six cities across Bangladesh: Dhaka, Chattogram, Rajshahi, Khulna, Barisal, and Sylhet. The study aimed to track the trend of air pollution over the past decade.

The findings were published in the journal Atmospheric Research. Among the six cities, Rajshahi recorded the highest AOD value at 0.78, followed by Khulna, Dhaka, Barisal, Sylhet, and Chattogram.

Shahid Uz Zaman, a researcher and lecturer in the Department of Chemistry at BUET, told Prothom Alo that the high AOD levels indicate alarmingly high pollution in nearly all major cities in the country.

“While it’s true that intercontinental air pollution contributes to Bangladesh’s pollution levels during the dry season, other local sources, such as construction dust, brick kilns, and vehicle exhaust, are also significant contributors. These sources need more attention, not just in Dhaka, but across other cities as well,” Zaman said.

In November, Narayanganj had the highest pollution levels among the country’s cities, with an air quality index (AQI) of 205. Dhaka followed closely with a score of 195.

The average AQI for Gazipur, Rajshahi, Mymensingh, and Rangpur were 191, 179, 167, and 186, respectively. This means that residents of these cities experienced unhealthy air for the entire month of November.

The outpatient department of the Respiratory Medicine Department at Mymensingh Medical College Hospital holds clinics every Sunday and Thursday.

Three years ago, no more than 15 to 20 patients with breathing conditions would typically attend. But now, according to Assistant Professor Md. Anisur Rahman, the number has risen to over 70 on average.

He told Prothom Alo, “There are so many patients now that many have to be sent back. This increase is directly linked to the rising pollution levels in the town. I also see many patients in my private practice, and the numbers spike even more during the dry season.”

Environmental experts attribute the worsening air quality to rapid, unplanned urbanisation, constant construction, vehicle emissions, and factory smoke — all contributing to air pollution in Dhaka and similar cities outside the capital.

They emphasise that strict monitoring is essential to curb these sources, and public awareness about the harmful effects of pollution must be raised. These efforts are primarily the responsibility of the Department of Environment and local government institutions. However, these agencies are largely inactive in both Dhaka and large towns outside the capital city.

AKM Rafiqul Islam, Director of the Department of Environment in the Rangpur Division, believes that the surge in construction activities in the city is a major contributor to pollution. However, he admitted that no large-scale initiatives have been launched yet to mitigate the pollution.

* The report, originally published in the print and online editions of Prothom Alo, has been rewritten in English by Farjana Liakat