Dhaka's air remains 'moderate' as Kampala records world's worst pollution

Dhaka's air quality remained at a moderate level on Monday morning, while Uganda's capital, Kampala, ranked as the world's most polluted city.

According to the Switzerland-based air quality monitoring platform IQAir, Kampala topped the global pollution list with an Air Quality Index (AQI) score of 159 at 9:40am on Monday (July 20). Dhaka ranked 17th, recording an AQI score of 90, which falls within the moderate or tolerable category.

Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, placed second with an AQI score of 158, followed by Indonesia's capital Jakarta at 157. Pakistan's Lahore ranked fourth with 156, while India's New Delhi was fifth with a score of 137.

IQAir provides real-time data on air quality across cities worldwide. Under its AQI scale, a score between 0 and 50 is considered good, while 51 to 100 is classified as moderate. Readings of 101 to 150 are deemed unhealthy for sensitive groups, 151 to 200 are unhealthy, 201 to 300 are very unhealthy, and any score above 301 is considered hazardous.