With an air quality index (AQI) score of 86 at 10:16 am, Dhaka ranked 17th on the list of cities worldwide with the worst air quality this morning.

Dhaka’s air quality was marked as ‘moderate’; thin traffic on the city streets during the Eid holidays can be attributed to that.

Uganda’s Kampala, South Africa’s Johannesburg  and Indonesia’s Jakarta occupied the first, second and three spots on the list, with AQI scores of 169, 166 and 157, respectively.

An AQI score between 51 and 100 is considered ‘moderate’, between 101 and 150 is considered ‘unhealthy’, and between 201 and 300 is said to be ‘very unhealthy’, while a reading of 301 and above is considered ‘hazardous’, posing serious health risks to residents.

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.

According to the World Health Organization, air pollution causes around seven million deaths globally each year, mainly from stroke, heart disease, chronic respiratory diseases, lung cancer and acute respiratory infections.