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The impact of COVID-19 as a necessary evil on air pollution in India during the lockdown

  • Muddassar Sarfraz*
  • , Khurram Shehzad
  • , Syed Ghulam Meran Shah
  • *Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalComment/debate

183 Scopus citations

Abstract

The study objective is to contemplate the effectiveness of COVID-19 on the air pollution of Indian territory from January 2020 to April 2020. We have executed data from European Space Agency (ESA) and CPCB online portal for air quality data dissemination. The Sentinel – 5 P satellite images elucidate that the Air quality of Indian territory has been improved significantly during COVID-19. Mumbai and Delhi are one of the most populated cities. These two cities have observed a substantial decrease in Nitrogen Dioxide (40–50%) compared to the same period last year. It suggests that the emergence of COVID-19 has been proved to a necessary evil as being advantageous for mitigating air pollution on Indian territory during the lock-down. The study found a significant decline in Nitrogen Dioxide in reputed states of India, i.e., Delhi and Mumbai. Moreover, a faded track of Nitrogen Dioxide can be seen at the Maritime route in the Indian Ocean. An upsurge in the environmental quality of India will also be beneficial for its neighbor countries, i.e., China, Pakistan, Iran, and Afghanistan.

Original languageEnglish
Article number115080
JournalEnvironmental Pollution
Volume266
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 2020
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Elsevier Ltd

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

  1. SDG 11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities
    SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities

Keywords

  • Air pollution
  • COVID-19
  • Environment
  • India
  • Nitrogen dioxide emissions

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Toxicology
  • Pollution
  • Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis

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