Lockdown In India Impacts To Improve Air Quality

Kota Mumbai, India (Abhay Singh / Unsplash)

JAKARTA - It is not easy for a government to impose a lockdown due to several considerations, one of which is the economy. However, in order to reduce the number of the spread of COVID-19 to save lives, the lockdown seems to be a big decision that must be taken. India also took this step. However, we have many reasons not to copy India's lockdown exactly, of course.

India has been implementing a lockdown policy for a week. Even though there is some controversy regarding this lockdown, at least there is still a positive side. The lockdown has forced many Indians to abstain from outside their homes. Many people no longer use their means of transportation. This makes the air in India healthier due to reduced levels of pollution.

All factories, markets, shops and places of worship were closed, most public transportation was suspended and construction work was stopped as the Indian government asked its citizens to stay at home and practice social distancing. So far, India has more than 1,300 confirmed cases of COVID-19, 35 of which have died.

Launching CNN, Wednesday, April 1, data shows that major cities in India have a dangerous microscopic particle material known as PM 2.5, and nitrogen dioxide is lower than normal days. The particles are released by vehicles and power plants.

Mumbai City, India (Abhay Singh / Unsplash)

PM 2.5 particles, which are smaller than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, are considered extremely dangerous because they can enter the lungs and bloodstream, causing serious health risks. The sudden drop in pollution and bluer skies are signaling a dramatic change for India, which has 21 of the 30 most polluted cities in the world, according to AirVisual's 2019 World Air Quality Report.

In India's capital, New Delhi, government data showed the average PM 2.5 fell 71% in a week, from 91 micrograms per cubic meter on March 20 to 26 on March 27. The World Health Organization (WHO) says that a number above 25 is bad for health.

"I haven't seen blue skies in Delhi in the last 10 years," said Jyoti Pande Lavakare, co-founder of India's environmental organization Care for Air.

"It is a lesson from this terrible crisis that we can step outside and breathe," added Lavakare.

Lowest pollution

In fact, before the national lockdown began on March 25, India's phased outages had an impact. During the first three weeks of March, nitrogen dioxide levels fell 40 percent-50 percent on average in Mumbai, Pune and Ahmedabad, compared to the same period in 2018 and 2019, said Gufran Beig, a scientist at an agency under India's Ministry of Earth Sciences. .

"Reducing fossil fuel emissions due to the transportation sector and slowing down activities related to other emissions are slowly reducing air pollutants," said Beig.

India's imposition of a national curfew on March 22 also resulted in the lowest levels of traffic pollution on record. Other dangerous pollutants, PM2.5 and the larger PM10, which are less than 10 micrometers in diameter, have also fallen sharply in numbers, the report added.

"It is very likely that even the March 22 record will be broken and we are seeing cleaner days as industry, transportation and energy generation diminish across the country," said Sunil Dahiya, a New Delhi-based analyst.

The same thing happened in Europe and China since the lockdown. All industrial and transportation networks came to a standstill. But the data is no reason to celebrate, Dahiya said.

"It is a really grim situation where the whole world is grappling with," said Dahiya.

"Pollution is on the decline, but we can't let human suffering become a way to clean the air. We can only use the coronavirus outbreak as a lesson for us," Dahiya said.