Thanks To Lockdown, Indian Cities Are Temporary Out Of The World’s Top 20 Polluted Cities

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused PM Modi to put the whole country under lockdown since March 23. This has hit pause on almost every manufacturing process. As a result, the release of industrial waste is subsequently erased.

So what happens when the environment is cleared of the toxic waste from human activities? The world becomes a cleaner place.

This can be observed in IQAir’s World Air Quality Index. From the list, we can see that no Indian city has made it to the list of the world’s 20 polluted cities.

In contrast, back in February, Indian cities took up almost two-thirds of the most contaminated cities in the world. Around a year ago, out of the top 20 most polluted cities, 15 were in India.

It is the shutdown of factories across the country during the nationwide lockdown that has led to this dramatic overturn. While the intention behind the lockdown was to contain the spread of the virus in the country, it has brought several benefits in terms of environmental aspects.

Apart from the improved air quality, without human activities, water bodies are also revived. The Yamuna river was spotted clean, which has never happened before. Similarly, dolphins were spotted off the coast of Mumbai, which is surely a rare sight.

While most places around the world experienced a similar effect, none can be as impactful as Indian cities. Chinese cities that have resumed their manufacturing processes are now topping the list.

Most of the cities in India now have a moderate to good air quality index. However, there are still some regions marked with orange and alarming dark red markers.

But there is one thing to keep in mind. Once the lockdown is over, manufacturing processes begin, corporate infrastructure starts operating and mobility resumes again, the polluting situation will come back. This means the pleasant air quality thanks to the lockdown is only temporary. To remain this, concrete measures need to be taken to minimalize human activities’ toxic waste.

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