Coronavirus lockdown effect:Mumbai’s air cleaner by 50% in a month

Due to rise in temperature, dust is getting suspended closer to the surface resulting in the lesser decline compared to NOx,” said Gufran Beig, director, SAFAR.

The share of harmful pollutants such as nitrogen oxides (NOx), particulate matter (PM) 10 and PM2.5 dropped by 60%, 49% and 45% respectively in the city’s air from March 1-5 to April 1-5, the System of Air Quality Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR) revealed on Tuesday.

As the air quality gets better and the pollution level decreases due to the lockdown, the international airport which is usually covered in haze is now clearly visible from Tilak nagar, Mumbai, India, on Thursday, April 02 2020. (Aalok Soni/Hindustan Times)

“Transport and industrial pollution contribute to more than 80% of NOx, and both the sources have reduced significantly resulting in a maximum drop for this pollutant. In case of PM10 and PM2.5, the major sources are windblown dust, transport and industries. Due to rise in temperature, dust is getting suspended closer to the surface resulting in the lesser decline compared to NOx,” said Gufran Beig, director, SAFAR under the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune. “While assessing background pollution levels for major cities, we are witnessing unprecedented trends that have not been observed before. These studies need to be taken into account during pollution mitigation plans once the lockdown is removed.”