Shawdesh Desk:

Dhaka’s air quality continues to be ‘unhealthy’.

The densely populated capital of Bangladesh has, in fact, been ranked fourth-most polluted in the latest list of world cities with the worst air quality.

On Saturday, the capital’s air quality index (AQI) was recorded at 194 at 9.36 am.

Pakistan’s Lahore, Afghanistan’s Kabul and India’s Delhi occupied the top three spots with AQI scores of 234, 201 and 195,  respectively.

An AQI between 101 and 200 is considered ‘unhealthy’, particularly for sensitive groups.

Similarly, an AQI between 201 and 300 is said to be ‘poor’, while a reading of 301 to 400 is considered ‘hazardous’, posing serious health risks to residents.

AQI, an index for reporting daily air quality, is used by government agencies to inform people how clean or polluted the air of a certain city is, and what associated health effects might be a concern for them.

In Bangladesh, the AQI is based on five criteria pollutants — Particulate Matter (PM10 and PM2.5), NO2, CO, SO2 and Ozone.