Dhaka’s air quality improves, but still ‘unhealthy’: AQI

Although the air quality of the capital marked a significant improvement yesterday morning, it was still classified as "unhealthy" in the Air Quality Index (AQI).

Dhaka had an AQI score of 135 at 10:17am, standing at 20th in the list of cities with worst air. Pakistan's Lahore and India's Mumbai occupied the first and second spots with scores of 187and 177 respectively, while Poland's Krakow ranked third with 176.

When the AQI value is between 101 and 150, members of sensitive groups may experience health effects while general public is less likely to be affected, according to the index.

In Bangladesh, the AQI is based on five pollutants: particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5), NO2, CO, SO2 and Ozone (O3).

Dhaka has long been grappling with air pollution, making it to the top of the list on a number of occasions in recent months.

The air quality usually improves during monsoon.