Dhaka //

Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, topped the air pollution list on Friday even on the weekend. The air quality is at the ‘very unhealthy’ level with a score of 277 on the Air Quality Index. This information was revealed by the index of Switzerland-based air quality monitoring organization IQAir at 8:58 am today.

Today, the amount of fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) in Dhaka’s air is more than 40 times the World Health Organization (WHO) standard.

IQAir has asked people to avoid exercising outdoors to stay safe from air pollution. In addition, the organization has advised keeping doors and windows closed and wearing masks when going out.

At this time, the air quality is at the ‘hazardous’ level in 4 areas of Dhaka. These are: Madani Sarani’s Beige Edgewater (408), Mirpur’s Eastern Housing (330), Savar’s Hemayetpur (330), and the US Embassy in Dhaka (330) areas.

Today, the air quality in Tejgaon’s Shanta Forum (289), Gulshan 2’s Rab Bhaban area (284), Becharam Deuri (277), Gulshan Lake Park (277), Gulshan’s Grace International School (250), and Kalyanpur (242) areas is at ‘very unhealthy’ level.

On Friday morning, Karachi, Pakistan (199) is in second place in the list of world cities. Kampala, Uganda (180), Kathmandu, Nepal (178), and Delhi, India (177) are in third, fourth, and fifth place. The air quality of the cities is at ‘unhealthy’ level today.

The main sources of air pollution in the capital include smoke from factories and vehicles, brick kilns, and waste burning. The capital’s residents did not get clean air even for a single day in December and January. The same situation prevails this month as well.

The Swiss-based company IQ Air provides a live or instant index of how clean or polluted a city’s air is. According to the company’s criteria, air quality is considered good if the score is between zero and 50.

Air quality is considered moderate or tolerable if it is 51 to 100. Scores of 101 to 150 are considered unhealthy for sensitive groups. Scores of 151 to 200 are considered unhealthy. Scores of 201 to 300 are considered very unhealthy. Furthermore, if it is more than 301, it is considered disastrous.

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