Dhaka's air quality continued to be in the 'unhealthy' zone this morning despite Thursday's Kalboishakhi and rain.

With an air quality index (AQI) score of 104 at 9:15 am today (April 28, 2023), Dhaka ranked 14th in the list of cities worldwide with the worst air quality. 

Nepal’s Kathmandu, India’s Delhi, and Pakistan’s Lahore occupied the first, second, and third spots, with AQI scores of 181, 165, and 159 respectively. 

An AQI between 151 and 200 is considered ‘unhealthy’ while between 201–300 is ‘’very unhealthy’, and 301–400 is 'hazardous', posing severe health risks to residents.

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 issues. Its air quality usually turns unhealthy in winter and improves during the monsoon.

Air pollution consistently ranks among the top risk factors for death and disability worldwide. Breathing polluted air has long been recognised as increasing a person’s chances of developing a heart disease, chronic respiratory diseases, lung infections and cancer, according to several studies.

As per the World Health Organization (WHO), air pollution kills an estimated seven million people worldwide every year, largely as a result of increased mortality from stroke, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer and acute respiratory infections.