Dhaka recorded a moderate air-quality level on Friday, with an Air Quality Index (AQI) score of 87, placing Bangladesh’s capital 19th on IQAir’s list of cities monitored for air pollution.
The reading, recorded on Friday, 25 September, falls within the ‘moderate’ or ‘acceptable’ category under IQAir’s air-quality classification. Although the level was not considered unhealthy for the general population, it does not indicate completely clean air either.
The figures were published by IQAir, a Switzerland-based organisation that monitors air quality in cities around the world. Its daily index provides a snapshot of pollution levels and ranks cities according to their recorded AQI readings.
Pakistan’s Lahore topped the list on Friday with an AQI score of 187, placing it in the ‘unhealthy’ category. The reading was considerably higher than Dhaka’s score of 87, highlighting the variation in air quality among major cities on the same day.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s capital, Kinshasa, ranked second with an AQI score of 181. Malaysia’s Kuching was third with a score of 165, while Doha in Qatar and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates recorded identical scores of 160, ranking fourth and fifth respectively.
According to IQAir’s classification system, an AQI score between 0 and 50 represents ‘good’ air quality. A reading from 51 to 100 is categorised as ‘moderate’. Levels between 101 and 150 are considered ‘unhealthy for sensitive groups’, while readings from 151 to 200 are classified as ‘unhealthy’.
Air quality becomes increasingly concerning at higher levels. An AQI between 201 and 300 is considered ‘very unhealthy’, while a score above 300 falls into the ‘hazardous’ category.
With Dhaka’s score standing at 87, the city remained within the moderate range on Friday. People who are more sensitive to air pollution may nevertheless experience greater effects when air quality deteriorates, even when the overall reading remains below the unhealthy threshold.
Air pollution levels can change throughout the day and from one day to another. Weather conditions, wind movement, traffic, construction activity and emissions from different urban sources can all influence the concentration of pollutants in the atmosphere. As a result, a single AQI reading represents conditions at a particular point in time rather than a complete picture of a city’s long-term air quality.
The Friday figures therefore showed a marked difference between the air-quality conditions in Dhaka and those in the cities at the top of the pollution ranking. While Lahore recorded an unhealthy AQI of 187, Dhaka’s reading of 87 remained within the moderate category.
