Air Quality

India has been among the most polluted countries globally, particularly in terms of air pollution. An average resident is exposed to air pollution that exceeds the WHO target for annual PM2.5 exposure by more than 500%. But With the lockdowns imposed due to the outbreak of the COVID 19 Pandemic, an improvement in the quality of air was observed in India. The government-mandated lockdowns in response to surging COVID-19 cases had shuttered businesses, eliminated traffic congestion, and paused construction projects and non-essential industry. Both Delhi and Mumbai experienced their best March air quality on record in 2020 (49.8 µg/m³ and 34.5 µg/m³ PM2.5 respectively). During the lockdown the NO2 Concentration in New Delhi reduced from 234 ppmv in Dec 2019 to 37 ppmv in April 2020. Similarly, Mumbai saw its lowest ever concentration of NO2 in July 2020, i.e. ppmv. The changes observed in the CO2 concentration of Delhi and Mumbai are more striking . The CO2 levels in Delhi went into negative( -1.43 ) whereas in Mumbai it reduced to 2.18 ppmv. The skies turned visibly blue even in the most polluted of regions during the lockdown period(comparative images/before and after).

The Visibility Of Himalayas :- The views from Northern India looked amazing during the pandemic. Some residents say they can see the peaks of the snow clad mountains from their native places for the first time in over 30 years. They have been sharing pics of the mountain view all over the social media.

For Example,

The Himalayas are visible again from Saharanpur. After rains, the sky is clear and AQI is around 85,” Indian Forest Service officer Ramesh Pandey wrote online sharing few images on Twitter. Images below(pics).