Coronvirus Lockdown: Pollution Level Comes Down In Over 100 Cities; Delhi Air 'Satisfactory'

This lockdown has helped in improving the Air Quality Index (AQI) of the country due to the lack of vehicular emissions and industrial operations.

Air Quality Improves Amid COVID-19 Lockdown

New Delhi: The entire country is under 21-day lockdown to combat coronavirus pandemic which has already killed thousands worldwide. India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi has imposed a nationwide lockdown in an attempt to slow the spread of the coronavirus. This lockdown has helped in improving the Air Quality Index (AQI) of the country due to the lack of vehicular emissions and industrial operations. Around 103 cities in India registered vastly improved air quality on Sunday. The data of Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), shows that the air quality index (AQI) in as many as 61 cities have recorded “satisfactory”, level and 30 cities have recorded “good” level. The air quality of 12 cities has recorded at “moderate” category. This lockdown has seized the sources of pollution as the cars and buses are off the roads, factories and industries closed. The heavy grey smog has turned blue now. According to the data of CPCB , the national capital, the world’s most polluted capital city, the air quality is presently in the “satisfactory” level and air quality index value is 62. The CPCB data said the impact of the measures taken due to the coronavirus outbreak has resulted in a drop in PM 2.5 (fine particulate pollutant). The level of Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) pollution, which can increase the risk of respiratory conditions, has also reduced. NOx pollution is mainly caused due to high motor vehicle traffic. According to the latest World Air Quality Report from IQAir, Gurugram was the most polluted cities in the world in 2018, with Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Noida, and Bhiwadi in the top six worst-affected cities. The World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2020 highlights the dangers posed by air pollution and records that 90 per cent of millennials (people born after 1980) expect the health effects caused by it to worsen in 2020.