Effects of Restrictions during COVID-19 on Air Quality in India: An Opportunity to Reshape the Earth

Abstract

The massive increase in the human population, rapid industrialization, and growth in technology has made our life comfortable and luxurious. However, it has come with the price tag of extreme exploitation of our planet earth. Our species have pushed the planet earth against its carrying capacity, damaging the earth’s own restoration capacity to filter the harmful pollutants. One of the outbreaks of this is air pollution. Chronic exposure to air pollutants weakens our lungs gradually making them vulnerable to various diseases and viruses such as SARS, MERS, and now the SARS-CoV-2. In this study, concentrations of six criteria pollutants, PM10, PM2.5, CO, NOx, ozone, and SO₂ from 2018 to 2020 in 18 cities covering different regions of India were analyzed with a focus on the lockdown period. The result shows a sharp reduction in all the criteria pollutants with the enforcement of lockdown measures. In the national capital Delhi alone, the rapid decrease in particulate matter (108 µg/m³), NOx (31 µg/m³), and NH₃ was observed with an increase in ozone concentration. The AQI has also improved from severe to moderate and good. This study proves the vision that by simple and strict implementation of regulatory measures, the earth can be allowed to be reshaped by passive restoration.