Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Air Quality in Delhi, India

The COVID-19 pandemic is one of the biggest health calamities that the world has faced, which has infected millions of people and lead to hundreds of thousands of deaths all over the world. It has impacted the economic, social and health aspects of the countries to quite an extreme level. But an ind...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Apurva Goel
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Technoscience Publications 2020-09-01
Series:Nature Environment and Pollution Technology
Subjects:
Online Access:http://neptjournal.com/upload-images/(20)B-3696.pdf
_version_ 1818007866488913920
author Apurva Goel
author_facet Apurva Goel
author_sort Apurva Goel
collection DOAJ
description The COVID-19 pandemic is one of the biggest health calamities that the world has faced, which has infected millions of people and lead to hundreds of thousands of deaths all over the world. It has impacted the economic, social and health aspects of the countries to quite an extreme level. But an indirect positive impact can also be seen on the environment. In this paper, taking the example of Delhi, one of the most polluted cities of India, an analysis has been done to compare the levels of air pollutants (PM2.5, PM10, NOx and ozone) during the lockdown and the same period in the previous years. The study shows that the extent to which the industries, vehicles, power plants etc. release the air pollutants and severely impact the environment and human health. As during the lockdown when all such activities were either stopped or very much restricted, a reduction of almost 60% in the particulate matter pollution and up to 40% in the NOx pollution was observed while the ozone levels were reduced by 30-40% as compared to the same period during the previous two years. In the end, some suggestions have been made which can play some part to control air pollution once the lockdown is over.
first_indexed 2024-04-14T05:21:28Z
format Article
id doaj.art-58a829a1aeed4fe699523236028a8055
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 0972-6268
2395-3454
language English
last_indexed 2024-04-14T05:21:28Z
publishDate 2020-09-01
publisher Technoscience Publications
record_format Article
series Nature Environment and Pollution Technology
spelling doaj.art-58a829a1aeed4fe699523236028a80552022-12-22T02:10:09ZengTechnoscience PublicationsNature Environment and Pollution Technology0972-62682395-34542020-09-011931095110310.46488/NEPT.2020.v19i03.020Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Air Quality in Delhi, IndiaApurva GoelThe COVID-19 pandemic is one of the biggest health calamities that the world has faced, which has infected millions of people and lead to hundreds of thousands of deaths all over the world. It has impacted the economic, social and health aspects of the countries to quite an extreme level. But an indirect positive impact can also be seen on the environment. In this paper, taking the example of Delhi, one of the most polluted cities of India, an analysis has been done to compare the levels of air pollutants (PM2.5, PM10, NOx and ozone) during the lockdown and the same period in the previous years. The study shows that the extent to which the industries, vehicles, power plants etc. release the air pollutants and severely impact the environment and human health. As during the lockdown when all such activities were either stopped or very much restricted, a reduction of almost 60% in the particulate matter pollution and up to 40% in the NOx pollution was observed while the ozone levels were reduced by 30-40% as compared to the same period during the previous two years. In the end, some suggestions have been made which can play some part to control air pollution once the lockdown is over.http://neptjournal.com/upload-images/(20)B-3696.pdfcovid-19, ambient air quality, lockdown, pandemic
spellingShingle Apurva Goel
Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Air Quality in Delhi, India
Nature Environment and Pollution Technology
covid-19, ambient air quality, lockdown, pandemic
title Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Air Quality in Delhi, India
title_full Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Air Quality in Delhi, India
title_fullStr Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Air Quality in Delhi, India
title_full_unstemmed Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Air Quality in Delhi, India
title_short Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Air Quality in Delhi, India
title_sort impact of the covid 19 pandemic on the air quality in delhi india
topic covid-19, ambient air quality, lockdown, pandemic
url http://neptjournal.com/upload-images/(20)B-3696.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT apurvagoel impactofthecovid19pandemicontheairqualityindelhiindia