Dhaka breathes good as air quality improves

The air quality in Dhaka showed signs of improvement on Wednesday morning.

The capital ranked 14th worst in the Air Quality Index (AQI) with a score of 91 around 9:28 am. The air quality was classified as ‘moderate’.

India’s Delhi, China’s Chengdu and Indonesia’s Jakarta occupied the first three spots in the list of cities with the worst air with a score of 171, 156 and 152 respectively.

When the AQI value is between 51 and 100, active children and adult and people with respiratory diseases are advised to limit prolonged outdoor excretion.

Bangladesh has shut down educational institutions, mass transport, and non-essential services and restricted the movement of people and vehicles to tackle the spread of coronavirus. People have been asked to stay indoors.

This has significantly cut down air pollution in Dhaka which regularly ranks among top 10 cities with worst air quality.

The AQI, an index for reporting daily air quality, informs 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. Its air quality usually improves during monsoon.