POSITIVE IMPACT ON ENVIRONMENT DUE TO COVID-19 LOCKDOWNS IN PARTS OF INDIA: A REVIEW

ABSTRACT

Due to the pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus 2) commonly known as COVID-19, a nationwide lockdown came into effect in India from 24th March midnight, 2020, which slowed down the movement of vehicles, operation of industries etc. Due to this reason a drastic change in the environment occurred and it caused the reduction of pollution level in the environment. The study mainly focuses on the positive impacts of lockdown in India. Studies have shown that after the implementation of lockdown, the level of the various major air pollution constituents of such as particulate matter (PM2.5, PM10, etc.), NO2, CO and ozone etc. in the air has reduced substantially. The air quality index data have clearly shown the difference in the level of air pollution between the year 2019 and 2020. The study was mainly focused on the comparison of air quality parameters such as particulate matter, NO2, CO and ozone etc. as well as the water pollution parameters such as Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD) and dissolved oxygen (DO) for the River Yamuna and it was observed that there was substantial amount of positive change in pollutants after lockdown compared to what was before lockdown. The observations are carried out in atime frame manner such as before lockdown and after lockdown and results have been found with a huge difference in reduction of air pollution as well as water pollution.