Prepare a Project on “The Impact of Lockdown on our Environment.” With references to conditions of rivers , air quality etc.
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Answer:
daily traffic.
Consequently, Delhi saw a fall in average concentrations of fine particulates (PM2.5) by almost 80 percent within the first week. The city’s air quality status improved to “satisfactory” (AQI 50-100) or “good” (AQI 0-50) category. This is a dramatic change when compared to the PM2.5 concentrations of March in the last last two years.
The air feels cleaner and the day clearer near Anand Vihar, Delhi, during the lockdown (attached Picture 1: 25 March 2020). Otherwise, this neighbourhoods witnesses hazardous air pollution levels (Picture 2: 16 September 2016 and Picture 3: 26 November 2016 below).
A simple visualisation of PM2.5 levels reduction due to the lockdown is shown in the graph below. It can be seen that average 24h PM2.5 level has dropped remarkably (to 76 µg/m3) on 25 March, as compared to the corresponding average value 24h PM2.5 level for the same dates in 2018 and 2019, indicating a drop of nearly 47 percent. In a week the PM2.5 level at Anand Vihar dipped to below the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) of 60 µg/m3. It then sustained below the NAAQS level for the subsequent week, reaching a minimum of 35 µg/m3 on March 28 (a drop of nearly 87 percent for that day from the 2018 and 2019 average level). This is truly remarkable!
PM2.5, one of the pollutants used to calculate Air Quality Index (AQI), has a direct impact on human health. PM2.5 are fine particles with a diameter smaller than 2.5 µm. These are considered particularly dangerous as these can be inhaled deep into the lungs causing respiratory illnesses.
A statistical model-based application has been developed for the Delhi-NCR region that computes the expected change in the Mohalla clinic visits for respiratory illnesses. The model shows that a PM2.5 level rise from 60 to 225 µg/m3 can lead to an 11 percent increase in clinic visits due to respiratory condition during normal situations (that is, not in lockdown).
The graph shows that this PM2.5 drop can dramatically clinic visits by more than 8 percent, as compared to days like March 22 when PM2.5 was close to 170 µg/m3, to now when the fine particles are largely around the National Standard (60 µg/m3).
This also translates to indirect economic benefits that can be reaped from cleaner air, by reducing clinic visits and medical costs.
Justifiably, the lockdown is a unique situation and not a desired one. However, can this transition into such clean air days happen when the farmers in the fields, the drivers behind the wheel, and 1.3 billion Indians able to transit? From an epidemiological perpective, it provides a real-world scenario of the benefits of implementing drastic measures to mitigate some of the sources of manmade pollution.
The choice is ours, the route is clean energy!