Air quality in Dhaka saw significant improvement during the three days around Eid-ul-Azha as the movement of people and vehicles was limited due to strict lockdown to tackle coronavirus pandemic.
According to IQAir, a real-time air quality information platform, Air Quality Index (AQI) of Dhaka witnessed score of 22, 25 and 43 on July 22, 23 and 24 respectively. The air quality in Dhaka on Tuesday was also good.
That means the capital’s air was healthy during the time as AQI score of 0-50 is considered “good” and it is represented with the green colour code. The pollution level in the air or particulate matter (PM2.5) reading between 12.1 to 35.4 μg or m³ (microgram or cubic meter) is classified as "moderate" by the World Health Organization (WHO).
PM2.5 level under 12.1 μg or m³ is considered "healthy".
PM2.5 reading for Dhaka air on July 22 was 5.3, on July 23 it was 6.1 and on July 24 it was 10.5 μg or m³, making Dhaka’s air "healthy", a rare phenomenon for one of the busiest and most polluted cities in the world.
According to the air quality information platform, the capital saw a PM2.5 reading of 83.3 μg or m³ as the yearly average in 2019.
Experts said Bangladesh is not less risky than other countries in the world from coronavirus pandemic. General holiday was declared by the government. All sort of public gatherings were forbidden by the government and public transport was closed, they said.
Many people left Dhaka as everything gradually closed down, they further said.
As a result, Dhaka became very less crowded. There was hardly any harmful smoke of the transport during the three days in the city. So, the level of air pollution and noise pollution was reduced, they added.
However, the country on Friday resumed the 14-day stricter nationwide lockdown after nine days of easing to observe the Eid-al-Azha.
To contain the surge of Covid infections and deaths in the country, lockdown this time enforced more strictly with a large number of law enforcers.
