No Improvement in Dhaka's Air: AQI 167 Puts the Capital Sixth Worldwide, Lahore Tops the List
Bangladesh's capital Dhaka has again ranked near the top of the world's most polluted cities. At 10am on Wednesday (21 October), Dhaka's Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 167, which falls in the 'unhealthy' category. With that score, the capital placed sixth on the global list.
On the previous day, Tuesday, Dhaka's AQI had been 166. In other words, within a single day there was effectively no improvement in the capital's air quality; the score actually rose by one point and the situation remained stuck in almost the same place. The morning picture alone shows that Dhaka's residents had to move through unhealthy air from the very start of the day.
The ranking is based on real-time data from IQAir, the Switzerland-based air-quality monitoring organisation. IQAir continuously monitors air quality in the world's major cities and publishes rankings based on AQI scores, and it is in that list that Dhaka's position has appeared.
At the top of the list was Lahore in Pakistan. At the same time, Lahore's AQI was 265, far higher than Dhaka's. A score of 265 falls in the 'very unhealthy' category. Two of South Asia's biggest cities thus sat side by side near the top of Wednesday morning's pollution ranking.
In second place was India's capital Delhi, with an AQI of 257. That too is a 'very unhealthy' score. In other words, two of the three most polluted cities in the world on Wednesday morning — Lahore and Delhi — were in South Asia, and sixth-placed Dhaka belongs to the same region.
Third on the list was Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur, with a score of 182. Fourth was India's Mumbai, with an AQI of 181. Both of those scores are also in the 'unhealthy' category, but they are higher than Dhaka's 167.
Under the AQI scale, a score between zero and 50 is considered 'good'. Between 51 and 100 the air is 'moderate' or tolerable, and between 101 and 150 it is considered unhealthy for sensitive groups.
A score between 151 and 200 means the air is 'unhealthy'. Dhaka's Wednesday score of 167 falls squarely in that band. That means this air is considered unhealthy not only for sensitive groups but for everyone in general.
Above that, scores of 201 to 300 are 'very unhealthy', and anything over 301 reaches the 'hazardous' level. Lahore's 265 and Delhi's 257 were within that 'very unhealthy' range, which puts Dhaka comparatively lower but offers no real grounds for comfort.
With scores of 166 and 167 on two consecutive days, Dhaka's air pollution has effectively stagnated. Wednesday morning's IQAir data has once again highlighted that the capital's air situation — sixth in the world and labelled 'unhealthy' — remains a matter of concern. It remains to be seen whether the score eases in the coming days or Dhaka climbs even higher.
