<div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;">As Eid-ul-Azha holidays begin and the city streets see less traffic, Dhaka’s air quality is in the 'moderate' zone this morning (June 27, 2023).</span><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">With an air quality index (AQI) score of 68 at 9:20 am, Dhaka ranked 19th in the list of cities worldwide with the worst air quality.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">South Africa's Johannesburg, Pakistan's Lahore and USA's Chicago occupied the first three spots on the list, with AQI scores of 169, 159 and 154, respectively.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">An AQI between 150 and 200 is considered 'unhealthy', AQI between 201 and 300 is said to be 'very unhealthy', while a reading of 301+ is considered 'hazardous', posing serious health risks to residents.</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.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">As per the World Health Organization (WHO), air pollution kills an estimated seven million people worldwide every year. UNB</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">bnbd24/kh</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div>