UNB, Dhaka :
The government has decided to introduce a national Air Quality Index (AQI) to identify the level of air
pollution in the country’s major cities, including capital Dhaka, and thus help people stay aware about ‘bad air’ days.
“We’ve already sent a draft of the Air Quality Index to the Ministry of Environment of Forests to assess it,” Dr M Nasir Uddin, project director of the DoE’s Clean Air and Sustainable Environment (CASE) project, told UNB.
The AQI is a tool for reporting daily air quality of any city or country. It tells how clean or polluted the air is, and what associated health effects might be a concern for public. The AQI focuses on health effects that one might experience within a few hours or days after breathing polluted air.
Globally, AQI is used as an effective tool to build public awareness and support for aggressive action for pollution control and bring down daily peak pollution levels. “Bangladesh is working to launch the index when the air quality in major cities is first deteriorating in absence of a national policy to combat the rising pollution,” Dr Nasir said.
The Department of Environment (DoE) is seriously considering launching a national AQI for the country seeing that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi released the National Air Quality Index and health alert for public information for his country on April 6 in 2015, according to a senior official of the DoE.
He said the ministry is assessing the draft of AQI and it will finalise the index after holding meetings with various stakeholders.
The government with support from the World Bank is implementing CASE project, which prepared the draft AQI, to improve the air quality and safe mobility in Dhaka.
Dr Nasir Uddin, also joint secretary of the Ministry of Environment and Forests, said the CASE project is currently releasing AQI daily on experimental basis.
The project has established 11 Continuous Air Monitoring Stations (CAMS) in the country’s eight major cities, including Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet, to keep the track of air pollution levels.
The CAMS operates round the clock with expected data capture rate of 85 percent. The DoE is now preparing the daily Air Quality Index (AQI) based on the data generated from the CAMS. AQI effectively describes ambient air quality relative to national air quality standards.
The data generated by CAMS are also being used in the planning and implementation of other development projects, official sources said.
According to experts and environmental activists, the AQI can be used to inform people about the daily air quality and provide advisories on health consequences.
Environmental expert Dr Atiq Rahman, also the executive director of Bangladesh Centre for Advance Studies (BCAS), said an integrated air quality index may be launched, which will caution people about possible health consequences.
The government has decided to introduce a national Air Quality Index (AQI) to identify the level of air
pollution in the country’s major cities, including capital Dhaka, and thus help people stay aware about ‘bad air’ days.
“We’ve already sent a draft of the Air Quality Index to the Ministry of Environment of Forests to assess it,” Dr M Nasir Uddin, project director of the DoE’s Clean Air and Sustainable Environment (CASE) project, told UNB.
The AQI is a tool for reporting daily air quality of any city or country. It tells how clean or polluted the air is, and what associated health effects might be a concern for public. The AQI focuses on health effects that one might experience within a few hours or days after breathing polluted air.
Globally, AQI is used as an effective tool to build public awareness and support for aggressive action for pollution control and bring down daily peak pollution levels. “Bangladesh is working to launch the index when the air quality in major cities is first deteriorating in absence of a national policy to combat the rising pollution,” Dr Nasir said.
The Department of Environment (DoE) is seriously considering launching a national AQI for the country seeing that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi released the National Air Quality Index and health alert for public information for his country on April 6 in 2015, according to a senior official of the DoE.
He said the ministry is assessing the draft of AQI and it will finalise the index after holding meetings with various stakeholders.
The government with support from the World Bank is implementing CASE project, which prepared the draft AQI, to improve the air quality and safe mobility in Dhaka.
Dr Nasir Uddin, also joint secretary of the Ministry of Environment and Forests, said the CASE project is currently releasing AQI daily on experimental basis.
The project has established 11 Continuous Air Monitoring Stations (CAMS) in the country’s eight major cities, including Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet, to keep the track of air pollution levels.
The CAMS operates round the clock with expected data capture rate of 85 percent. The DoE is now preparing the daily Air Quality Index (AQI) based on the data generated from the CAMS. AQI effectively describes ambient air quality relative to national air quality standards.
The data generated by CAMS are also being used in the planning and implementation of other development projects, official sources said.
According to experts and environmental activists, the AQI can be used to inform people about the daily air quality and provide advisories on health consequences.
Environmental expert Dr Atiq Rahman, also the executive director of Bangladesh Centre for Advance Studies (BCAS), said an integrated air quality index may be launched, which will caution people about possible health consequences.
