Dhaka remains most polluted city for third consecutive day

Dhaka has once again topped in the list of the most polluted cities in the world. After Sunday, Dhaka has retained the first place in the list of the polluted cities with an air quality index (AQI) of 293 at 8.00 am Monday.

Earlier, Dhaka was at the top of the list on Saturday as well. With this, Dhaka has been at the top position of the list for three consecutive days.

Earlier, Dhaka topped the list several times in the last week of December and this year from the beginning of January.

International technology company ‘IQ AIR’, specialised in monitoring the air quality, publishes this list regularly.

With an AQI score of 291 and 216, Uzbekistan’s Tashkent and New Delhi of India have come out second and third in this list respectively today.

Dhaka, Tashkent and New Delhi are followed by Vietnam's Hanoi (189) in AQI score. Then there are three Chinese cities in the list - Wuhan (173), Chongqing (171) and Chengdu (170).

The AQI score, prepared based on the daily air quality, indicates quality or pollution of the air in a specific city and informs about any possible health hazard due to air pollution.

An AQI between 100 and 200 is said to be ‘unhealthy’ while 201 and 300 is considered ‘very unhealthy’, and 301 to 400 is considered ‘hazardous’, posing serious health risks to residents.

The children, elderly people and the sick ones are suggested to remain at home and others are requested to limit their outdoor activities.