Mozidur Rahman Biswas :
Dhaka’s air is once again the world’s most polluted as the capital’s air quality index (AQI) was lastly recorded at 269 at 10:11am, whereas China’s Wuhan and India’s New Delhi occupied the next two positions, with AQI scores of 252 and 214, respectively. An AQI between 201 and 300 is said to be “poor”, while a reading of 301 to 400 is considered “hazardous”, posing the most serious health risks and mounting threat to residents and dwellers living here and there in the most populous city in this part of the world. Thus concern is gradually mounting in all strata of the society, specialty among different professionals. Besides, a wide-ranging educated section of the entire population of Bangladesh has started observing with serious trepidation and anxiety about the deterioration of the air quality of the country’s capital city Dhaka.
Government agencies, time and again, inform general people about the polluted air quality of Dhaka city to make the more serious about the air index called AQI. Health analysts believe, this sort of reporting daily air quality will, in many ways, help people understand the gravity of the polluted air quality and its overall effect on animal health, especially busman being. The methodology, of course, is mostly associated with wide ranging health effects, and the process will educate people by increasing the concern of the inhabitants living in the city.
Academically, AQI, in Bangladesh, is based on five criteria pollutants: Particulate Matter (PM10 and PM2.5), NO2, CO, SO2 and Ozone. Since Dhaka has long been grappling with air pollution issues, as such the air quality of Dhaka city usually turns unhealthy especially during winter and later gradually improves during monsoon.
Earlier, based on the recent report of the Department of Environment (DoE), the World Bank during the month of March 2019 pointed out saying that the three main sources of air pollution in Dhaka “are brick kilns, fumes from vehicles and dust from construction sites”.
With the advent of winter, the Dhaka city’s air quality AQI, the recognised index for reporting daily air quality, is used or catagorised by government agencies to inform people how clean or polluted the air of a certain city is, and what factors are associated with health effects in order to make them more and more concern in the matter.
As mentioned earlier, AQI in Bangladesh is based on five criteria pollutants: Particulate Matter (PM10 and PM2.5), NO2, CO, SO2 and Ozone, as such Dhaka has long been grappling with air pollution issues. In that process, air quality of Dhaka usually turns unhealthy during winter and improves during monsoon.Department of Environment (DoE) of, the World Bank in March 2019, in consideration with those three main sources of air pollution in Dhaka said “are brick kilns, fumes from vehicles and dust from construction sites”.
The present year, again, with the advent of winter, especially at the ending phase of cold weather, Dhaka city’s air quality started deteriorating very sharply. The massive discharge of pollutant particles from construction works, rundown roads, brick kilns and a number of other sources are the causative factors of polluted air condition that defy all description.
In the context of the above unworthy situation, relevant government departments and functionaries, have to enforce adequate policy measures marked by strong activity package to step up appropriate action through city corporations and other agencies, to transform our capital city Dhaka into a livable metropolis, in the actual sense of the term, in the highest interest of the people in all strata of the society. The New Nation, a couple of days back, has published a comprehensive report on Climate Change effect.
(Mozidur Rahman Biswas is a senior journalist).
