COVID-19 lockdown: a boon in boosting the air quality of major Indian Metropolitan Cities

The COVID-19 lockdown has not only helped in combating the community transmission of SARS-CoV-2 but also improved air quality in a very emphatic manner in most of the countries. In India, the first phase of COVID-19 lockdown came into force on March 25, 2020, which was later continued in the next phases. The purpose of this study was to investigate the result of lockdown on air quality of major metropolitan cities-Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Jaipur, and Lucknow-from March 25 to May 3, 2020. For this study, the concentration of six criteria air pollutants (PM_2.5, PM₁₀, CO, NO₂, SO₂, and O₃) and air quality index during the COVID-19 lockdown period was compared with the same period of the previous year 2019. The results indicate a substantial improvement in air quality with a drastic decrease in the concentration of PM_2.5, PM₁₀, CO, and NO₂, while there is a moderate reduction in SO₂ and O₃ concentration. During the lockdown period, the maximum reduction in the concentration of PM_2.5, PM₁₀, CO, NO₂, SO₂, and O₃ was observed to be - 49% (Lucknow), - 57% (Delhi), - 75% (Mumbai), - 68% (Kolkata), - 48% (Mumbai), and - 29% (Hyderabad), respectively. The value of the air quality index (AQI) also dwindled significantly during the COVID-19 lockdown period. The maximum decline in AQI was observed - 52% in Bengaluru and Lucknow. The order of AQI was satisfactory > moderate > good > poor and the frequency order of prominent pollutants was O₃ > PM₁₀ > PM_2.5 > CO > NO₂ > SO₂ during the lockdown period in all the aforementioned metropolitan cities.