As the nation shifts abruptly to lockdown mode to fight the deadly novel coronavirus, with people staying indoors on Sunday on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for ‘Janata Curfew’, there has been an unexpected result —the clear blue sky.
“Many of the actions the people are taking to fight the coronavirus, like self-imposed ‘curfew’ or working from home, will have an additional benefit of reducing carbon footprint, besides breaking the virus transmission chain. This will help in reduction of individual’s production of greenhouse gases thus significantly curbing emission. This in turn could help in improving the air quality,” said Narendra Nath, a scientist with the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board.
He said that the air quality had improved across the state and one could see the difference. “The sky is blue, which is a pleasant surprise for environmentalists. And this phenomena is visible all across India,” he said.
In Lucknow, the air quality index at noon on Sunday was 61 – it otherwise remains over 200.
Nath’s statement was dittoed by Anumita Roychaudhry, from the Centre for Science and Environment. “This is a crisis induced change which has forced people to go for ‘Janata curfew’ (people’s curfew) or allow them to work from home. Vehicular traffic is off the road across the country. The pollution-producing industries are closed and this will reduce carbon footprint,” she said.
Roychaudhry said that satellite pictures had shown reduction in pollution in China and Italy after lockdown was imposed in these countries. “The pictures for India are not available now but surely they will show a positive impact (of lockdown) on the country,” Roychaudhry said.
In just a few weeks, millions of people have been put into quarantine and regions locked down to reduce the spread of coronavirus. In India, events are being cancelled and travel plans dropped. Universities, schools and workplaces have been closed and workers both in public and private sectors have been asked to work from home.
Air pollution in India is a serious health issue as it contributes to the premature deaths of two million Indians every year.
Of the most polluted cities in the world, 21 out of 30 were in India in 2019. Fifty-one per cent pollution is caused by industries, 27 per cent by vehicles, 17 per cent by crop burning and 5 per cent by Diwali fireworks.
Shashank Bharadwaj from Transportation Research Procedia says that traffic congestion on roads not only increases fuel consumption but also leads to increase in carbon dioxide emissions, outdoor air pollution as well as increase in exposure time of the passengers.
“With vehicles off the roads during ‘Janata curfew’ and people preferring to work from home, the carbon dioxide emission has gone down, which is a good sign,” Srivastava from Pollution Control Board said.
Shachindra Sharma, a Noida-based environmentalist, said that the actual effects on greenhouse gas emission depended upon where one actually stayed. “People living in National Capital Region (NCR) travel long distance to go to their work place. Similar is the case in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Chennai and Pune which have very high traffic density. Their everyday travel takes a toll on the environment,” he said
“It is early to predict but we can expect a decline by around 1 per cent in carbon emission this year, which is a good sign,” he said.
In 2015, the Government of India, together with IIT-Kanpur, had launched the National Air Quality Index. In 2019, India launched the National Clean Air Programme’ with tentative national target of 20-30 per cent reduction in PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations by 2024, considering 2017 as the base year for comparison. It will be rolled out in 102 cities that are considered to have air quality worse than the National Ambient Air Quality Standards.
