Dhaka's air 'unhealthy for sensitive groups' today, seventh most polluted city in the world
Dhaka ranks seventh on the list of the world's most polluted cities today. Its air quality index score is 147, which is considered "unhealthy for sensitive groups". The figures were recorded on the Switzerland-based air quality website IQAir at 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday (November 10).
At the top of the list of cities with the most polluted air is Lahore in Pakistan. The city's score is 286, which is considered "very unhealthy". Lahore's air is almost twice as polluted as Dhaka's.
Second on the list today is Delhi in India, with a score of 229. Third is Kampala in Uganda, with a score of 198. Fourth is Kolkata in India, with a score of 189. Fifth is Tashkent in Uzbekistan, with a score of 153. Sixth is Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia, with a score of 147.
Although Ulaanbaatar and Dhaka share the same score of 147, Dhaka sits seventh in the ranking. With two Indian metropolises, Delhi and Kolkata, in the top five, the severe picture of air pollution in South Asian cities is once again on display.
IQAir, the Switzerland-based organisation, provides a live, real-time index of how clean or polluted a city's air is. Under its standards, a score between zero and 50 is considered good air quality, while a score of 51 to 100 is regarded as moderate.
A score of 101 to 150 is considered unhealthy for sensitive groups. Dhaka's score of 147 today falls within that range. Scores from 151 to 200 are considered "unhealthy". A score of 201 to 300 means the air is "very unhealthy", and anything above 301 is considered "hazardous".
Under this scale, Delhi's 229 and Lahore's 286 both fall in the "very unhealthy" category. Dhaka's 147, meanwhile, is in the "unhealthy for sensitive groups" category, meaning today's air poses a risk to children, older people and those with respiratory problems.
IQAir's real-time index changes at different times of the day. According to the 7:30 a.m. reading, Dhaka is the seventh most polluted city in the world, but that position and score may change at other times of the day.
