Authors : Sneha T. Bankar and Jagdish Gabhane
Page Nos : 287-295
Description :
The outbreak of COVID-19 has caused concerns globally. WHO has declared it as a global health emergency on 31stJanuary. Most countries including India have announced some sort of lockdown to reduce the effects of COVID-19 and discontinue the transmission of novel corona virus. In the present study, concentrations of seven perilous pollutants, PM10, PM2.5, CO, NO2, NH3 ozone and SO2 during regular and lockdown condition in 4 cities of India; Delhi, Mumbai, Nagpur, Noida were analysed. During lockdown 1st and 2nd nearly all the pollutants level has decreased in four cities which are under study. Whereas, during 3rd and 4th lockdown the decrease in pollutant level is marginal. Effect of lockdown on the level of PM 2.5, NO2 and CO in Delhi and Mumbai has shown effectual compared to Nagpur and Noida. In Nagpur the effect of lockdown was found marginal as the pollution level in Nagpur is already low. And in Noida pollution level is very high and during lockdown it is lessened. The concentration of PM2.5, NO2 and CO declined during the lockdown phase in comparison to the before lockdown in Delhi and Mumbai. Similar decline in pollutant concentration was observed in other megacities as well. When we compared data of CO and PM2.5 of Mumbai for the last three year effect of lockdown was clearly seen.
