Rainfall has improved Dhaka’s air quality to the “moderate” category, with the city recording an air quality index (AQI) score of 61 on Sunday morning.
The rain, which lashed different parts of the capital, helped improve the city’s air quality, which often deteriorates during the dry season.
With an AQI score of 61 at 11:45am, Dhaka ranked 36th on the list of world cities with the worst air quality.
Malaysia’s Kuala Lumpur, India’s Delhi and Malaysia’s Kuching occupied the first three spots in the list, with AQI scores of 172, 167 and 165, respectively.
An AQI between zero and 50 is considered “good”.
When the AQI value for particle pollution is between 101 and 150, air quality is considered “unhealthy for sensitive groups”, between 150 and 200 is “unhealthy”, between 201 and 300 is said to be “very unhealthy”, while a reading of 301+ is considered “hazardous”, posing serious 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.
The AQI in Bangladesh is based on five 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.