The average amount of PM2.5 in the air of Bangladesh is 15 times higher than the WHO standard
Air pollution in Bangladesh continued to increase at an alarming rate. Bangladesh ranks again and again on the national and international air pollution index. According to a report released by the Swiss company IQAR Bangladesh is at the top of the list regarding air pollution globally.
In addition, Dhaka is in second place as the capital. The report has collected air pollution data from 117 countries, 6,475 regions, and ground-based air quality monitoring centers worldwide.
Experts claim that the air pollution problem is not a new phenomenon in Bangladesh. Such a situation has been prevailing all over the country for a long time. They say clean air is now a dream in Bangladesh. Due to air pollution, humanitarian and environmental disasters occur in the country. Our government has to be realistic regarding the solution to this problem.
Sharif Jamil, General Secretary of the Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon (BAPA) on (BAPA), said, “Failure to prevent air pollution would create a humanitarian catastrophe. The government is implementing big projects starting from its policy and legal framework. Leave air pollution, and our overall environment is deteriorating; no practical solution or implementation of the law is visible. Pollution can lead to severe humanitarian and environmental catastrophes. Unless our government takes real-time solutions, our future will bring immense suffering.”
Prof. Dr.Ahmad Kamruzzaman Majumder, Chairman of the Department of Environmental Science at Stamford University and Director of the Center for Atmospheric Pollution Studies (CAPS), said,
“The issue of air pollution in Bangladesh has reached such a level that it is visible in the naked eye without lab tests. Our levels of pollution are excessive.
We have presented such information in international studies and various domestic studies. Air pollution in Gazipur has increased beyond Dhaka air pollution. Out of 64 districts of the country, air pollution is higher in 54 districts. Only ten districts had comparative air pollution.”
He further said, “Clean air is now a dream in Bangladesh. Various government measures have failed to reduce air pollution. We need more strengthened City corporations to prevent air pollution.
The Department of the Environment was responsible for monitoring. The general public should get informed about air pollution through print and electronic media and billboards. “
According to IQAir, a Swiss air quality technology company, Bangladesh tops the list of 117 countries with the most polluted air in 2021. Then there is Chad. Pakistan is in third place, and Tajikistan is in fourth place. Moreover, India is in fifth place.
According to the report, no single country can maintain the World Health Organization (WHO) expectations in 2021. Last year the WHO changed its weather indicator guidelines.
The organization further reported that the average annual density of small and dangerous airborne particles known as Particulate Matter (PM2.5) should not exceed five micrograms per cubic meter. However, lower concentrations are also a significant cause of health risks.
The IQAir report stated that out of about 6,000 cities in their survey, only 3.4 percent of its air quality was WHO expected. In addition, in 93 cities, the PM2.5 level was ten times higher than that acceptable level.
Bangladesh had the highest average concentration of PM2.5 in the air, at 76.9 micrograms, among the 117 countries and regions surveyed. As such, last year, the air in Bangladesh was the most polluted in the world.
IQAir has been publishing this report since 2018. Every time Bangladesh is at the top of the list of polluted countries.
