Improving the air quality of Dhaka

AIR like water saves our life. We cannot imagine sustaining life without air. Air Quality Health Index or "AQHI" is now a universal scale to assess the quality of air around us and it is designed to help us understand what air quality means to our health. When the amount of air pollution is very high, the number on the indicator is higher. It is unfortunate to see that Dhaka continues to rank among the cities with poorest air quality in the world. In fact, it is ranked second in the list of most polluted cities in the world with a score of 443.

Three Bangladeshi cities Dhaka, Naraynganj and Gazipur are among the top 25 cities with the poorest air quality. People need better air quality to lead a better life. Children and elderly people are the worst sufferers of air pollution. Additionally air pollution has both direct and indirect bearing on the economy. Healthcare services are direct costs and resulting lower productivity is an indirect cost. We need to create consciousness among the common people so that they learn about the importance of pollution free air and play a role to preserve it. The government however has the main role to play followed by the civil society. We hope the problem of air pollution is successfully combated with increased awareness of people and effective steps taken by the government to relieve our city from growing air pollution.

Saiful Islam

Baridhara DOHS