ACADEMIA Letters Air & Water Pollution during Coronavirus (Covid-19) Pandemic in India Gaurang Rami So far crores of people are infected and lakhs of people have died due to spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19) in India. India had witnessed a rapid spread of the infection due to Coronavirus, leading to the Government putting the whole country on 21 day nationwide lockdown. Government of India has taken several other steps and measures to reduce the spread of Coronavirus. Economic activities have adverse impact on ecology and environment. During lockdown the government of India and various state governments have urged people to avoid unnecessary travelling and put restrictions on various economic activities, this has significantly reducing the traffic movement across the country and production of various good and services which resulted in substantial reduction in air and water pollution in India. Government of India can think appropriate strategies with wider use of technology and alternatives which will have less hazardous effects on ecology and environment. It is expected that this stage of clean air and water in India will turn in to for more systematic, focused and strategic policy interventions in days to come. Introduction: The first three cases of Coronavirus pandemic in India were reported on 30 January 2020 in Kerala, all of whom were students who had returned from Wuhan, China. So far over crores of people have infected and around lakhs of people have died due to pandemic spread of Coronavirus in India. There are huge variations in Coronavirus infected persons across the various states and union territories in India. Experts suggest the number of infections Academia Letters, July 2021 ©2021 by the author — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0 Corresponding Author: Gaurang Rami, grami@rediffmail.com Citation: Rami, G. (2021). Air & Water Pollution during Coronavirus (Covid-19) Pandemic in India. Academia Letters, Article 2241. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL2241. 1 could be a substantial underestimate, as India’s testing rate is one of the lowest in the world. The outbreak has been declared an epidemic in various states and union territories, where provisions of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 have been invoked, and educational institutions and many commercial establishments have been shut down. India has suspended all tourist visas, as a majority of the confirmed cases were linked to other countries. On 22 March 2020, India observed a 14-hour voluntary public curfew at the insistence of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Further, on 24 March, the prime minister ordered a nationwide lockdown for 21 days, affecting the entire 1.3 billion population of India. On 14 April, Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended the nationwide lockdown until 3 May, with a conditional relaxation after 20 April for the regions where the spread has been contained. On 1 May, the Government of India extended nationwide lockdown further by two weeks until 17 May. The Government divided the entire nation into three zones – green zone, red zone and orange zone. On 17 May, nationwide lockdown was further extended till 31 May by National Disaster Management Authority. The transmission escalated in the month of March, after several cases were reported all over the country, most of which were linked to people with a travel history to affected countries. So far all the State Governments in India has made arrangements for the distribution of rations to ration card holders, daily wagers, labourers in the unorgansed sector, migrant labourers and also managing food and basic amenities to the people. They are also making arrangements for doctors, nurses, paramedical staffs, beds, PPE, masks, ventilators, testing kits, exclusive COVID-19 hospitals etc. for treatment of corona-affected patients. Effects on Air and Water Pollution In general, economic activities have adverse impact on ecology and environment. Ambient air pollution contributes to 7.6% of all deaths worldwide in 2016 (WHO (1), 2016). From smog hanging over cities to smoke inside the home, air pollution poses a major threat to health and climate. The combined effects of ambient and household air pollution cause about seven million premature deaths every year, largely as a result of increased mortality from stroke, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer and acute respiratory infections. More than 80% of people living in urban areas that monitor air pollution are exposed to air quality levels that exceed WHO guideline limits, with low- and middle-income countries suffering from the highest exposures, both indoors and outdoors. WHO data shows that 9 out of 10 people breathe air containing high levels of pollutants. In the world; 4.2 million deaths every year as a result of exposure to ambient (outdoor) air pollution and 3.8 million deaths every year as a result of household exposure to smoke from dirty cook stoves Academia Letters, July 2021 ©2021 by the author — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0 Corresponding Author: Gaurang Rami, grami@rediffmail.com Citation: Rami, G. (2021). Air & Water Pollution during Coronavirus (Covid-19) Pandemic in India. Academia Letters, Article 2241. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL2241. 2 and fuel (WHO (2), 2016) In recent time across the world, pollution has been decreasing drastically especially air and water pollution. India is home to 21 of the world’s 30 most polluted cities (IQAir, 2019), but recently air pollution levels have declined significantly due to nationwide lockdown as a part of combating from pandemic of Coronavirus (COVID-19). Air pollution makes people more vulnerable to lung disease. The lockdown has also led to better air quality. According to the World Air Quality, the average concentration of PM 2.5 in New Delhi came down by 71 per cent for a week last month. Nitrogen Dioxide, a pollutant, has also witnessed a decline of 71 per cent. Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Bangalore have also recorded a drop in these air pollutants (Dwivedi, S., 2020). The reduced fossil fuel emissions due to the transport sector and slowdown in other emissionsrelated activity are slowly reducing the air pollutants. The level of Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) pollution, which can increase the risk of respiratory conditions, has also reduced. NOx pollution is mainly caused due to high motor vehicle traffic. In Pune, NOx pollution has reduced by 43 per cent, in Mumbai, by 38 per cent and in Ahmedabad, by 50 per cent . During the first three weeks of March, the average Nitrogen dioxide levels declined by 40-50% in the cities of Mumbai, Pune and Ahmedabad, compared with the same period in 2018 and 2019. Now the tops of skyscrapers were visible and people could spot more stars than usual. The air quality is likely to slip into ’good’ category soon. Under the ‘good’ category, pollution is considered to be at the lowest and the air is believed to be the healthiest to breathe. It is due to reduced vehicular traffic and rise in temperature (Wright, R., 2020) . Along with air; water in rivers has been getting cleaner due to lockdown in many counties due to pandemic of coronavirus. Similar effects have been observed in India where blue sky is now visible across major cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore etc. Many rivers in India including Ganga and Yamuna are flowing cleaner. The clear water is a result of the shutdown of most industries during lockdown. The stoppage of industrial pollutants and industrial waste has definitely had a positive effect on quality of water. Fishes can be seen near the bank of rivers. In the thick of all the gloom and doom, there is a silver lining. Mother earth seems to have rejuvenated itself – smog has given way to blue skies, marine life is seeing increased activity, pollution levels have dropped, and animals as well as birds are moving about on their own accord (Balaji, R., 2020). Conclusion: No country would desire to have lockdown and restricted economic activities as it has adverse effects on economic growth and path of development. Due to lockdown slowing down ecoAcademia Letters, July 2021 ©2021 by the author — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0 Corresponding Author: Gaurang Rami, grami@rediffmail.com Citation: Rami, G. (2021). Air & Water Pollution during Coronavirus (Covid-19) Pandemic in India. Academia Letters, Article 2241. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL2241. 3 nomic activities is not the proper way to bring down pollution especially in air and water which improves the quality of life in entire ecosystem; but at least experience shows that it is possible and can be done. Government, economic policy makers and planners have to formulate appropriate economic policies and strategies once when the lockdown is lifted (sooner or later) to sustain and increase growth rates of different sectors of an economy without compromising with the social welfare of different segments and sections of society in days to come. References Balaji, R. “Blue skies, clean air: how the coronavirus lockdown is rejuvenating our environment” Retrieved April 02, 2020 from https://yourstory.com/socialstory/2020/04/coronaviruslockdown-environment-air-pollution-covid-19 Dwivedi, S. “Cleaner River Water, Better Air Quality - Positive Effects of Lockdown” Retrieved April 06, 2020 from https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/cleaner-river-water-betterair-quality-positive-effects-of-lockdown-2206553 IQAir. “World most polluted cities 2019 (PM2.5)” Retrieved April 15, 2020 from https:// www.iqair.com/us/world-most-polluted-cities MoHFW. “COVID-19 INDIA” Retrieved April 17, 2020 from https://www.mohfw.gov.in/ WHO (1). “Mortality and burden of disease from ambient air pollution” Retrieved April 16, 2020 from https://www.who.int/gho/phe/outdoor_air_pollution/burden/en/ WHO (2). “Air pollution” Retrieved April 16, 2020 from https://www.who.int/health-topics/ air-pollution#tab=tab_1 Wikipedia. “2020 coronavirus lockdown in India”, Retrieved April 05, 2020 from https://en. wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_coronavirus_lockdown_in_India Wright, R. “The world’s largest coronavirus lockdown is having a dramatic impact on pollution in India” Retrieved April 01, 2020 from https://edition.cnn.com/2020/03/31/asia/ coronavirus-lockdown-impact-pollution-india-intl-hnk/index.html Academia Letters, July 2021 ©2021 by the author — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0 Corresponding Author: Gaurang Rami, grami@rediffmail.com Citation: Rami, G. (2021). Air & Water Pollution during Coronavirus (Covid-19) Pandemic in India. Academia Letters, Article 2241. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL2241. 4