The Coronavirus pandemic has resulted in a nationwide lockdown in India since March 23. As a result, almost all the manufacturing processes have come to a halt, subsequently easing the release of the industrial waste on the environment.?
So what happens when such toxic waste produced by human activities does not pollute the environment? The world becomes cleaner in all aspects.
A proof of this can be seen in today's ranking of the World Air Quality Index by IQAir. According to the daily global pollution tracker, none of the Indian cities make it to the list of top 20 polluted cities in the world.?
In contrast, almost two-thirds of the world¡¯s most polluted cities were in India by the end of February this year. And about a year ago, 15 out of the World's Top 20 most polluted cities were in India.
The dramatic overturn of air pollution in the Indian cities can all be accounted to the shutdown of manufacturing processes across the country citing the nationwide lockdown. While the intent of the lockdown was to curb the spread of the novel Coronavirus in India, several benefits to the environment are now being observed across the country.
Apart from the air quality of the country cleaning itself up, water bodies are also rejuvenating under the absence of human activities. Yamuna was recently spotted clean like never before throughout its path. Similarly, the city of Mumbai was able to spot dolphins off the coast,a? rare sight in the pollution laden water.
While most places of the world saw a similar effect, none is as impactful as observed in the Indian cities. Cities that are not under lockdown and have resumed manufacturing processes are clearly topping the list now, with semi-healed China ranking 7 of its cities in top 20. These include cities like Shenyang, Beijing, Hangzhou, Guangzhou and the Coronavirus epicentre Wuhan where normalcy is returning.
The thing to note here is that while most of the world observes a good AQI in the ongoing times, most of the cities always had such a pleasant air quality to begin with.?
Only in the Indian cities was the case of hazardous air pollution levels recorded before the lockdown.?And while India is definitely breathing cleaner air than before, if you look at the World Air Pollution by WAQI you'll see that not all is hunky dory just yet.?
Most of the Indian cities as per the WAQI map show a good to moderate air quality index right now. The green and yellow markers (respectively), however, are also accompanied by almost equivalent orange ones that indicate an unhealthy air pollution level in the region. Some are still dotted by alarming dark red ones indicating a hazardous level of air pollution.
The former desirable indicators are expected to again be replaced by the darker ones as the lockdown gets over and the manufacturing processes begin, mobility resumes and corporate infrastructure starts buzzing again.
This means that the respite from the high air pollution levels due to the Coronavirus lockdown are welcome but temporary. To maintain the current AQI levels in the Indian cities, concrete steps will have to be taken to ensure minimal air pollution through human activities and a higher air revival rate through widespread greenery in the country.