Fall in the Index of Air Pollution Due to COVID-19
The melancholy that is caused due to the disastrous impact of a pandemic ‘COVID-19’, is unendurable. Millions of lives have been lost that has been recorded,and the number of death counts and affected people is incessantly and unstoppably increasing. Worldwide governments have given instructions of locked-down so that people should not come outside of their houses to perform their daily tasks and crowd the roads, streets, shopping malls, markets, workplaces, etc. This reduces the number of vehicles on the roads, which has drastically lowered the index of pollution across the world.
India, the second most populated nation, has witnessed an incredible fall in the air pollution levels, due to the lock-down declared by the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi on 24 March 2020 for 21 days. Strict orders are passed, urging 1.3 billion Indians to stay at home. What causes the reduction of air pollution? This is the foremost question.During this lockdown, the world ceased to exist.
Humans are not allowed to leave the house until it is very much required. Workplaces are closed, shops are shut down, shopping malls, bars, clubs, every public place are ordered to be isolated. This has automatically lowered the usage of vehicles on the roads. Due to the shutting down of factories and construction work, the microscopic particulate matter, or PM 2.5, starts to drop.
The eminent personalities from the sports, film-industry, politics are asking the people to stay at home and demonstrating them the steps for taking precautions like washing hands, using sanitizer, masks, etc. This has caused a major influence on the mass, so they have stopped leaving their houses.
After Diwali, last year Delhi had witnessed the quality of air was deteriorated that resulted in a plethora of problems related to breathing, skin, dizziness, etc.
The decisions which are taken by the administration in the country to control Covid-19, havebeen proven to be extremely beneficial for controlling the infections as well as improving the air quality index.
The suspension of International and Domestic flights for a long time has `tremendously reduced the emission of fuel and other gases during the takeover and landing of flights.On Sunday, the overall Air Quality Index in Delhi stood at 82, which falls under the ‘satisfactory’ category, per the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR). The weekend before this witnessed the best air quality in the national capital region (NCR) in 2020, with an average AQI of 46. The weekend before that, it was 159.
India is home to 21 of the world’s 30 most polluted cities, but the nation’s air has been recorded clearer in the recent past days. CREA that stands for the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA)found that one-day curfew resulted in the lowest average level of nitrogen dioxide pollution ever recorded.
The reports of various environmentalists presented the data that reflect the Air Quality Index of New Delhi, which says that there is a drastic drop in the concentration of ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, etc. from the air.
In these sultry summers, we are going to witness and blazed by the increased temperature and the clear blue sky, so environment-wise the situation is for the benefit of humans. But, we don’t know what more curse this virus will bring forth.
The global warming effects have upsurged the temperature that has caused rainfall in various states and is responsible for the aerosol removal from the atmosphere and that has brought down particulate matter values as well.
Not only there is an increase in the reduction of air pollution, but also we witnessed the honking of vehicles on the roads have proportionately been reduced.
Along with India, other countries across the world have been experiencing this dramatic pollution control due to the measures taken by authorities to control this Covid-19.
But, the question remains how long this smog-free, pollution-free environment can be witnessed? To combat the issue of pollution, serious measures ought to taken by the authorities to bring down the levels of pollution when life after this Covid-19 will return to normalcy.
Moreover, Social distancing has not only caused positive effects but has also shaken the economy of the world badly. Businesses have been shattered, people are losing their jobs, daily wage workers are dying out of hunger and financial scarcity.
Let’s together fight with this pandemic and overcome this deadly situation by following the guidelines of authorities. Stay at home and be safe!
