Dhaka air quality turns ‘satisfactory’

The air quality in Dhaka showed a significant improvement on Wednesday morning with the capital city ranking 47th worst in the Air Quality Index (AQI), reports UNB.

It had an AQI score of 44 at 10:24 am and its air quality was classified as ‘satisfactory’.

China’s Beijing, Pakistan’s Lahore and Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh occupied the first three spots in the list of cities with the worst air with scores of 176, 160 and 158 respectively.

When the AQI value is between 0 and 50, the air quality is satisfactory, and air pollution poses little or no risk.

Bangladesh has shut down educational institutions, mass transport, and non-essential services and restricted the movement of people and vehicles to tackle the spread of coronavirus. People have been asked to stay indoors.

This has significantly cut down air pollution in Dhaka which regularly ranks among top 10 cities with worst air quality.

The AQI, an index for reporting daily air quality, informs people how clean or polluted the air of a certain city is, and what associated health effects might be a concern for them.

In Bangladesh, the AQI is based on five criteria pollutants - Particulate Matter (PM10 and PM2.5), NO2, CO, SO2 and Ozone.

Dhaka has long been grappling with air pollution. Its air quality usually improves during monsoon.