Dhaka’s air quality is still in the 'unhealthy' zone this morning (March 10, 2023). With an air quality index (AQI) score of 163 at 9:30 am, the capital of Bangladesh ranked 11th in the list of cities worldwide with the worst air quality. Pakistan’s Lahore, India’s Delhi, and China’s Wuhan occupied the first three spots, with AQI scores of 239, 213, and 203, 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 particular 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. 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 heart disease, chronic respiratory diseases, lung infections, and cancer, according to several studies. As per World Health Organization (WHO), air pollution kills an estimated seven million people worldwide every year, mainly due to increased mortality from stroke, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer, and acute respiratory infections.

Dhaka's air quality was reported unhealthy on Monday morning as it occupied the fifth position in the latest list of world cities with the worst air quality after it saw significant improvement in last week due to seasonal rains. The city's AQI score was 159 at 9 am while it remained ‘moderate’(AQI between 50 and 100)  last week due to rains and nor’westers . Also read: AQI: Dhaka’s air remains unhealthy Israel’s Jerusalem, India’s Delhi and Nepal’s Kathmandu occupied the first three spots, with AQI scores of 349, 195 and 178, respectively. An AQI between 101 and 200 is considered 'unhealthy', particularly for sensitive groups. Similarly, an AQI between 201 and 300 is said to be 'poor', while a reading of 301 to 400 is considered 'hazardous', posing serious health risks to residents. AQI, an index for reporting daily air quality, is used by government agencies to inform 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. Also read: No respite from unhealthy air as Dhaka ranks 2nd worst in AQI A report by the Department of Environment (DoE) and the World Bank in March 2019 pointed out that the three main sources of air pollution in Dhaka "are brick kilns, fumes from vehicles and dust from construction sites". With the advent of winter, the city’s air quality starts deteriorating sharply due to the massive discharge of pollutant particles from construction work, rundown roads, brick kilns and other sources. 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.

Here's some good news. Dhaka is no longer the world's most polluted city. That's Lahore now.

The air quality in Dhaka showed a significant improvement on Friday morning with the capital city ranking the 64th worst in the Air Quality Index (AQI).   It had an AQI score of 35 at 09:07am and its air quality was classified as ‘satisfactory’.   When the AQI value is between 0 and 50, the air quality is satisfactory, and air pollution poses little or no risk.

Dhaka’s air quality showed improvement for the second consecutive day on Thursday morning as it ranked the 12th worst in the Air Quality Index (AQI).

Dhaka’s air quality showed significant improvement on Thursday  morning after two days of rain.   It ranked 42nd worst in the Air Quality Index (AQI) in the morning.   It had an AQI score of 46 at 08:58am and its air quality was classified as ‘good’.   Indonesia’s Jakarta, Pakistan’s Lahore and China’s Shenyang occupied the first three spots in the list of cities with the worst air with scores of 152, 140 and 126 respectively.   When the AQI value is between 0 and 50, the air quality is good.   Dhaka usually ranks among top 10 cities with worst air quality. Its quality might have improved due to the incessant rain for the last couple of days.

Dhaka’s air quality showed signs of improvement for the third consecutive day on  Friday morning.   It was categorised as ‘moderate’ and ranked 14th worst in the AQI index.   The megacity had an AQI score of 74 at 08:39 am. When the AQI remains between 51 and 100, the air quality is acceptable.   However, there may be risks for some people, particularly those who are unusually sensitive to air pollution.

Dhaka’s air quality showed signs of improvement for the second consecutive day on Thursday morning.   It was categorised as ‘moderate’ and ranked 21st worst in the AQI index.   The megacity had an AQI score of 74 at 08:26am. When the AQI remains between 51 and 100, the air quality is acceptable.   However, there may be risks for some people, particularly those who are unusually sensitive to air pollution.

The quality of Dhaka’s air  showed signs of improvement on Saturday morning.

Dhaka’s air quality showed significant improvement on Saturday morning as it ranked 68th worst in the Air Quality Index (AQI).