Dhaka third on list of polluted cities with a score of 171, Lahore at the top
Photo: Collected
The level of air pollution in cities around the world keeps rising by the day. In this situation, Lahore in Pakistan is at the top of the list of cities with the world’s most polluted air, with an air quality score of 251. This quality of air is considered ‘very unhealthy’ for citizens. Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, is at number three on the list today as well, with a score of 171. This quality of air is regarded as ‘unhealthy’.
The information was learnt on Monday (19 October) from the index of the Switzerland-based air quality monitoring organisation Air Quality Index (IQAir).
According to IQAir’s Air Quality Index, Lahore in Pakistan was at the top of the list of the world’s air-polluted cities on the day with an air quality score of 251. This quality of air is considered ‘very unhealthy’ for citizens. Besides, Mumbai in India was in second place on the list with an air quality score of 186, Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, was in third place with a score of 171, another Indian city, Delhi, was in fourth place with a score of 169, and Jakarta in Indonesia, in fifth place, had a score of 167.
According to IQAir’s standards, when the score is between zero and 50 the air quality is considered ‘very good’. A score of 51 to 100 is regarded as ‘moderate or tolerable’ air quality.
And a score of 101 to 150 is considered ‘unhealthy for sensitive groups’. A score of 151 to 200, on the other hand, is considered ‘unhealthy’. When the score is 201 to 300 it is considered ‘very unhealthy’. Besides, a score of more than 301 is considered ‘hazardous’.
Background
According to a report of 6 October 2026 in Prothom Alo, by that morning’s count Dhaka was at the top of the list of the world’s major cities with a score of 234; Kolkata was in the following positions that day with 198, Kuala Lumpur with 191 and Delhi with 186.
The numbers
That Prothom Alo report, citing IQAir, said the level of the main pollutant, the ultra-fine particulate matter PM2.5, in Dhaka’s air that day was 159 micrograms per cubic metre, about 32 times the World Health Organisation’s annual guideline.
According to the same report, that count was made on the basis of data from 12 monitoring stations in Dhaka and the highest score, 284, was recorded at Baridhara Park Road; the score in Gazipur was 245 and in Tongi 185.
Source
Original report: Bangladesh Pratidin | Background source: Prothom Alo, 6 October 2026
