21-Day Lockdown in India Dramatically Reduced Air Pollution Indices in Lucknow and New Delhi, India

• Published in: Bulletin of environmental contamination and toxicology Vol. 105; no. 1; pp. 9 - 17
• Main Authors: Srivastava, Sudhakar, Kumar, Amit, Bauddh, Kuldeep, Gautam, Alok Sagar, Kumar, Sanjeev
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.07.2020; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Air Pollutants - analysis; Air pollution; Air quality; Airborne particulates; Aquatic Pollution; Carbon monoxide; Cities - statistics & numerical data; Communicable Disease Control - statistics & numerical data; Coronavirus Infections - prevention & control; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecotoxicology; Environment; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental Health; Environmental Monitoring; Human Activities - statistics & numerical data; Human influences; Humans; India; Nitrogen dioxide; Outbreaks; Outdoor air quality; Pandemics; Pandemics - prevention & control; Particulate matter; Particulate Matter - analysis; Pneumonia, Viral - prevention & control; Pollutants; Pollution; Pollution control; Pollution index; Pollution levels; Soil Science & Conservation; Sulfur dioxide; Viral diseases; Viruses; Waste Water Technology; Water Management; Water pollution; Water Pollution Control; Water quality; Cities; India; New Delhi India; COVID-19; Air pollution; Air quality; Lockdown; PM2.5
• DOI: 10.1007/s00128-020-02895-w
• ISSN: 0007-4861; 1432-0800

In December 2019, the outbreak of viral disease labeled as Novel Coronavirus started in Wuhan, China, which later came to be known as Covid-19. The disease has spread in almost every part of the world and has been declared a global pandemic in March 2020 by World Health Organization (WHO). The corona virus outbreak has emerged as one of the deadliest pandemics of all time in human history. The ongoing pandemic of COVID-19 has forced several countries of the world to observe complete lockdown forcing people to live in their homes. India also faced the phase of total lockdown for 21 days (in first phase) to avoid the spread of coronavirus to the maximum possible extent. This lockdown impacted the pollution levels of environment and improved air and water quality in the short span owing to very less human activities. The present work scientifically analyzed the available data for primary air pollutants (PM 2.5 , NO 2 , SO 2 and CO) from two major Indian cities, Lucknow and New Delhi. The analysis was based on air quality data for before lockdown and after lockdown (first phase of 21 days) periods of 21 days each. The results showed significant decline in the studied air pollution indices and demonstrated improvement of air quality in both the cities. The major impact was seen in the levels of PM 2.5 , NO 2 and CO. The levels of SO 2 showed less significant decline during the lockdown period. The results are presented with future perspectives to mitigate air pollution in near future by adopting the short and periodical lockdown as a tool.