Dhaka is again at the top of the list of the air polluted cities

Sadia Noor Portia (7th semester – English Department,
Independent University, Bangladesh)

Due to the polluted air yesterday Friday morning, Dhaka topped the list of air polluted cities in the world for the second consecutive day. Dhaka had a score of 313 on the Air Quality Index (AQI) at 8.16 am on Friday morning, which meant that the city’s air quality was ‘at risk’ for health.

The AQI Index, created with daily air quality, gives people information about how clean or polluted the air in a particular city is and whether there can be produced any kind of health risks for them or not. If the AQI standard is between 301 and 500, it refers to an emergency with health alert and the whole city is more likely to be at risk. In this situation, children, elders, and sick patients are advised to restrict activities inside the home and others are advised to restrict activities outside the home.

India’s Kolkata and China’s Shenyang are in the second and third positions with AQIs of 218 and 195 respectively. Getting the AQI Index to score below 50 means that air quality is good. Getting a score of 51 to 100 means that air quality is acceptable. Getting a score of 101 to 150 means that air quality is unhealthy. If the AQI standard is 201 to 300, it is considered an emergency with a health alert, which could result in the health risks of the townspeople. The capital city Dhaka has long been plagued with polluted air. Though air pollution extremely rises in the city during the summer, the conditions improve in the rainy season.