Blue sky thinking: what the coronavirus lockdown shows India about pollution and clearing the air
- Urban and industrial areas around the world are seeing pollution levels drop dramatically during the lockdown
- Anti-pollution activists say India has the opportunity to rethink our policies on emissions and industry
After months spent under virtual house arrest with doors and windows firmly sealed against the record levels of pollution, people in the Indian capital are flinging everything open to breathe in great gulps of clean air and feast on blue skies.
The cause of the low levels of pollution – the coronavirus lockdown – is still keeping them stuck indoors to stop the contagion spreading, but few are complaining.
Delhi’s Air Quality Index last Sunday morning was moderate at 42. Below 50 is deemed to be good air. On some days in November and December, it had maxed out at 999 (because most monitors can only register three digits), forcing the Delhi government to declare a public health emergency.
Schools were shut and flights cancelled. Those who could, fled the city. The rest locked themselves in, venturing out only when necessary wearing masks in what, with hindsight, appears to have been an eerie dress rehearsal for the nationwide coronavirus lockdown that began on March 25.