Dhaka Among Five Most Polluted Cities Worldwide on Monday

Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka ranked among the world’s five most polluted cities on Monday morning, with an Air Quality Index (AQI) score of 164, indicating unhealthy air quality.

The ranking was published at 8:15am on Monday, November 2, by IQAir, a Switzerland-based air quality monitoring platform.

According to the index, Lahore in Pakistan topped the list with an AQI score of 493. New Delhi in India ranked second with 219, followed by Cairo, the Egyptian capital, with 212. Kolkata in India’s West Bengal ranked fourth with 169, while Dhaka placed fifth with a score of 164.

IQAir monitors air quality in cities worldwide and publishes real-time pollution data.

Under its AQI classification, a score between zero and 50 indicates good air quality, while 51–100 is considered moderate.

An AQI score of 101–150 is classified as unhealthy for sensitive groups, including children, older adults and people with certain health conditions. Scores between 151 and 200 indicate unhealthy air quality.

Readings between 201 and 300 are classified as very unhealthy, while scores above 300 fall into the hazardous category.

With an AQI of 164, Dhaka’s air was therefore classified as unhealthy on Monday morning.