Real time air quality index launched
FE REPORT | Monday, 20 November 2023
The government has launched a real-time air-0quality index to monitor air quality across the country.
This initiative aims to inform the public about the health effects of air pollution levels and enable actions to control air pollution and protect public health.
The air quality will be monitored using 16 Continuous Air Quality Monitoring System (CAMS) automation systems in cities such as Dhaka, as well as other departmental and industrial areas.
The real-time data will be available on the Department of Environment's website.
Cabinet Secretary Md. Mahbub Hossain inaugurated the programme at the beginning of the second meeting of the National Committee on Air Pollution Control, held in the meeting room of the Cabinet Division on Sunday, according to a statement from the Ministry of Environment.
The air quality monitoring data obtained through the 16 CAMS across the country, managed by the Environment Department, will be automatically analyzed, processed and calculated as the Air Quality Index (AQI), and published on the Environment Department's website.
All of these CAMS will continuously monitor six air pollutants in the air, including PM10, PM2.5, ozone, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and carbon monoxide.
The data will then be calculated as the AQI. The AQI values are categorized into different levels based on the health effects of air pollution on humans. A range of 0-50 is classified as good air quality, 51-100 as moderate, 101-150 as harmful for sensitive people, 151-200 as unhealthy, 201-300 as very unhealthy, and above 300 as hazardous.
The air quality monitoring data will be collected from a total of 16 CAMS installed in various locations, including Agargaon, Bark of Farmgate, and Dar es Salaam in Dhaka, Savar, Gazipur, Narayanganj, Mymensingh, Agrabad in Chittagong, Sylhet, Comilla, Rangpur, Television Centre in Chittagong, Rajshahi, Barisal, Khulna, and Narsingdi.
During the meeting, necessary measures were discussed and requested to prevent air pollution caused by the incineration of medical waste.