Effect of COVID-19 on Air Pollution: The Indian Scenario

Mahato et al. [1] evaluated the concentrations of particulate matter (PM) and other gases like CO and NO 2 (an indicator of PM 2.5 ) before and after lockdown in New Delhi. Later, it was revealed that PM 10 and PM 2.5 concentrations reduced by 50% compared to pre-lockdown conditions. Similarly, pollutants like CO (35% reduction) and NO 2 (52.68% reduction) have been decreased. The study also reported 40%-50% recovery in air quality just after 4 days of lockdown initiation. The National Air Quality Index (NAQI) has observed with 31%-54% reduction around the New Delhi [1]. Owing to lower power demand in manufacturing, use of fossil fuels or sources of renewable energy has been drastically reduced. In addition, Kumar S has reported effects of confinement on air quality in other major cities. In this study, steep decreasing in aerosol concentration and PM 10 , PM 2.5 and NO 2 were reported in Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, Ahmedabad, and Hyderabad. The concentration in aerosols (AOD) and NO 2 got reduced by 60% and 45% in these cities. In a key finding, he has revealed that meteorological factors like temperature and humidity do not play any role in the reduction of viral load. He has also stated the Government restrictions could only be able to reduce the effects in the absence of specific treatment options [2].

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Not applicable

The datasets used in this study are openly available at [repository link] and the source code is available on GitHub at [GitHub link].

This work did not receive any external funding.