DHAKA again has been ranked the second worst city in Air Quality Index as its air was classified as unhealthy as it had a score of 201 to 300 in the recent time. India’s Delhi was the top city in the list with highest score. The dwellers of Dhaka city will have to experience health effects consequently. In this situation, children and adults, and people with respiratory diseases, such as asthma, are advised to avoid prolonged outdoor exertion. The air quality is categorised as good when AQI score remains between 0-50 while the air is moderate when AQI is 51 to 100 but when AQI is in between 101 and 150, it is classified as unhealthy.
According to media report, millions of people in New Delhi have to pass their days choking through ‘eye-burning’ smog, with schools closed, cars taken off the road and construction halted. The poisonous haze has caused by vehicle fumes, industrial emissions and smoke from agricultural burning. There is smoke everywhere and people, including youngsters, kids, elderly are finding it difficult to breathe. Obviously, the situation in Indian capital is more hazardous than Dhaka. But there is nothing to become happy for us. Though Dhaka has long been grappling with air pollution, no effective measures were taken to get rid of the situation. The Global Liveability Index 2019 placed Dhaka as the third least livable city in the world, just after war-torn Syrian capital Damascus and Lagos. The same index of the previous year (2018) ranked Dhaka as the world’s second least livable city. We fear Dhaka will have to face more problematic situation than that of New Delhi if urgent measures are not taken in this regard.
Now the authority concerned needs to take long-term programmes to tackle such a large-scale pollution. We do urge the Department of Environment to impose emissions restrictions on motorbikes, scooters, and old vehicles without fitness which are heavily used in the city. Along with this, other measures should also be taken to keep the situation under control.
