<div style="text-align: justify; "><b style="font-size: 1rem;">Dhaka ranked second in the list of cities around the world with the worst air quality as it registered an air quality index (AQI) score of 194 at 9:05am today, which puts the capital in the "unhealthy" category.</b><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">An AQI between 151 and 200 is said to be "unhealthy" while 201 and 300 is considered "very unhealthy", and 301 to 400 "hazardous", posing serious health risks to residents.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Myanmar's Yangon and India's Delhi occupied the first and third places with AQIs of 196 and 191 respectively.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In Bangladesh, the AQI is based on five criteria pollutants — Particulate Matter (PM10 and PM2.5), NO2, CO, SO2 and Ozone.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Dhaka has long been grappling with air pollution issues. Its air quality usually turns unhealthy in winter and improves during the monsoon.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Air pollution consistently ranks among the top risk factors for death and disability worldwide. Breathing polluted air has long been recognised as increasing a person's chances of developing a heart disease, chronic respiratory diseases, lung infections and cancer, according to several studies. UNB</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>