Save Dhaka residents from polluted air

Air pollution is the greatest environmental threat to public health globally. And Dhaka’s air quality is among the world’s worst, according to the air quality index, Dhaka's air quality was categorized as “unhealthy for sensitive groups” Thursday morning (July 18).

IQAir, a Switzerland-based company, regularly highlights the situation of air pollution. This instant indicator of air quality informs and alerts people about how clean or polluted the air is in a particular city. According to IQAir, Dhaka's air quality is 13th worst in the world this morning. At this time, IQAir's air quality index score of Dhaka is 106.

According to IQAir criteria, pollution is between 101 and 150, air quality is considered “unhealthy for sensitive groups”. Children, old people, sick people and pregnant women are considered among sensitive groups. And this quality of pollution is enough for creating life-threat for the sensitive groups.

Dhaka has long been grappling with air pollution issues. Due to density of population, traffic, construction, and industrial pollution, Dhaka’s air quality is among the world’s worst. As a result, over the last few years, our air, especially in Dhaka, has been repeatedly ranked as among the most polluted in the world.

Dhaka’s air in not only unsafe for the sensitive groups, but also has a tremendously negative impact on all people living in Dhaka. The toxic air is having a deadly impact. The average person in Dhaka loses about eight years of their life due to air pollution, according to a study.

Air pollution consistently ranks among the top risk factors for death and disability worldwide. Breathing polluted air has long been recognized as increasing a person's chances of developing a heart disease, chronic respiratory diseases, lung infections and cancer, according to several studies.

And, as per the World Health Organization (WHO), air pollution kills an estimated seven million people worldwide every year. Air pollution and climate change are also closely linked. Air pollution doesn’t just jeopardize our health and well-being; it contributes massively to climate change, threatens food security, and makes city inhabitants unsafe.

We urge all relevant departments of the government to take meaningful actions and save Dhaka residents from polluted air. In the last 20 years, we have talked a lot about air pollution. The government has given us many promises to tackle Dhaka’s acute air pollution problem, but when it comes to action, we rarely see any result. The people's voice is clear- they want action, not false assurance.