Impact of Lockdown on Ambient Air Quality in COVID-19 Affected Hotspot Cities of India: Need to Readdress Air Pollution Mitigation Policies

• Published in: Environmental claims journal Vol. 33; no. 1; pp. 65 - 76
• Main Authors: Garg, Anchal, Kumar, Arvind, Gupta, N. C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boca Raton Routledge 02-01-2021; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Air pollution; Air pollution measurements; Air quality; Airborne particulates; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; Disease hot spots; Environmental policy; Mitigation; Nitrogen dioxide; Outdoor air quality; Particulate matter; Pollutants; Pollution control; Pollution effects; Sulfur dioxide; Viruses; India
• ISSN: 1040-6026; 1547-657X
• DOI: 10.1080/10406026.2020.1822615

The present study investigates the effect of lockdown on ambient air quality of 16 Indian cities constituting the major hotspots for COVID-19 cases. The COVID-19 lockdown resulted in cleaner air in India. Significant reduction of nearly 62%, 52% and 69% are observed in PM
10
, PM
2.5
and NO
2
levels as compared to preceding years. However, there is no significant effect of lockdown on other gaseous pollutants (SO
2
and O
3
). The lockdown in India was found to be an effective way to restrict the virus spread rate and measure control ambient air pollutant levels.