Bangladesh at risk of Air Pollution- Dhaka again at the top in the AQI chart, Delhi is in Second
By Amila Khan
Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, was at the top of the list of the world’s most polluted air cities on December 5 due to the extremely unhealthy level of deadly air pollution. According to Air Visual, Dhaka’s air was seven times more polluted than usual since the morning of that day.
On the other hand, Delhi was at number two in the list of global polluted cities, and Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, was at number three.
Dhaka was at the top of the polluted city with an air value of 263 (fine dust per cubic meter was 329.2 micrograms). On the other hand, Delhi, India’s capital, was in the second position with a score of 261.
The report was released by the United States agency Air Visual. Besides, Lahore in Pakistan was fourth with 216, and Kolkata in West Bengal was fifth with 187.
A score below 50 on the AQI index means the air quality is good or average. If the score is between 51 to 100, the air quality is acceptable; if it is between 101 to 150, the general urban dwellers, especially children, the elderly, and the sicks, are at risk.
If it is between 151 to 200, it is considered ‘unhealthy,’ which may affect every city dweller; 301 to 500 or More than that, air quality is considered risky. It is considered an emergency for every city dweller, including health precautions.
Mumbai in India is the sixth most polluted city globally. Kuwait City is at number seven, and Ulaanbaatar of Mongolia is at number eight.
Kyiv in Ukraine is the ninth-most polluted city globally, and Tashkent in Uzbekistan is the tenth most polluted city in the world.
Dhaka was the second most polluted air city in the world in the report titled Global Air Condition-2017; after that, Karachi in Pakistan and Beijing in China, and Delhi in India were at the top. Bangladesh was at the highest risk from this pollution, which is now at the forefront.
Overcrowded Dhaka has been struggling with polluted air for a long time. The level of pollution in the capital has reached its final stage mainly due to uncontrolled dust of construction work, vehicle smoke, brick kilns, etc.
A report of the World Bank and the Department of the Environment, Bangladesh has identified brickfields around the city as the main cause of air pollution in Dhaka. About one and a half crore people of the city are living in the incredible poisonous gas.
According to a review by the US space agency NASA, the level of air pollution in Dhaka has increased by 86 percent in the last ten years.
According to the latest data from Air Visual, a US-based global air pollution monitoring organization, the average air pollution in Bangladesh is 97.10, followed by Pakistan at 74.27, India at 72.54, Afghanistan at 61.80, and Bahrain at 59.50 PM 2.5.
Ref: Green Page
