key: cord-0866468-ucuob9gt authors: Lokhandwala, Snehal; Gautam, Pratibha title: Indirect impact of COVID-19 on Environment: A brief study in Indian Context date: 2020-06-18 journal: Environ Res DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2020.109807 sha: 28ba08ad41b38304edac6a64c3e9143c1eccd58c doc_id: 866468 cord_uid: ucuob9gt Worldwide spread of COVID-19 in a quite short time has brought a dramatic decrease in industrial activities, road traffic and tourism. Restricted human interaction with nature during this crisis time has appeared as a blessing for nature and environment. Reports from all over the world are indicating that after the outbreak of COVID-19, environmental conditions including air quality and water quality in rivers are improving and wildlife is blooming. India has always been a hub of pollution with huge population, heavy traffics and polluting industries leading to high air quality index (AQI) values in all major cities. But after declaration of lockdown due to COVID-19, quality of air has started to improve and all other environmental parameters such as water quality in rivers have started giving a positive sign towards restoring. This paper provides evidence-based insight into improvement of air quality and environment during pre and post lockdown of this pandemic situation. An attempt has been made to visualize the improvement in the air quality using tools like satellite images of Indian atmosphere, results of onsite real-time monitoring at specific locations (Ghaziabad-highest polluting city of India) and Air quality index (AQI) calculated by central pollution control board of India. the spread of this virus at this moment is suggested to be "social distancing", which is being 139 practiced by many countries at this crisis time and has led to reduction GHG emissions in air roads. But we have paid a heavy cost for this development in terms of poisoning the air we breathe. As 144 per press release of World Health Organization (2 nd May, 2018), around 7 million people die every 145 year from exposure to fine particles in polluted air [World Health Organization, 2018] Benzene. The correlations between the above pollutant concentrations at Ghaziabad during the four 278 weeks i.e. two before and two during lockdown are shown in Table 3 Effect of COVID-19 on air quality was also studied through Air Quality index (AQI) which 366 is one of the important tools to measure the level of pollution due to major air pollutants. Remain Shut Due to Lockdown, Retrieved from https://www.news18.com/news/buzz/ganga-523 river-water-has-now-become-fit-for-drinking-as-industries-remain-shut-due-to-lockdown- The Hindu (2020).Cauvery, tributaries look cleaner as pandemic keeps pollution away, Retrieved from www.thehindu.com/news/national/ karnataka/ cauvery-tributaries-in-old-553 mysuru-region-look-cleaner-as-pandemic-keeps-pollution-away/article31210429.eceThe 554 Tribune (2020). Lockdown helps improve Health of Ganga, Retrieved from 555 www.tribuneindia.com/news/nation/lockdown-helps-improve-health-of-ganga-64936World 556 Economic Forum (2020), The deadly link between COVID-19 and air pollution, Retrieved 557 from https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/04/the-deadly-link-between-covid-19-and-air-558 pollution 9 out of 10 people worldwide breathe polluted air, but 560 more countries are taking action WHO-Director-general-s-opening-remarks-at-the-media-564 briefing-on-covid-19, Retrieved from www.who.int/dg/speeches/detail/who-director-general-565 s-opening-remarks-at-the-media-briefing Epidemiology and cause of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS People's Republic of China. The Lancet COVID-19 on the environment Highlights • Brief database of obliteration caused by COVID-19 pandemic • Assessment of environmental impact of subsequent lockdown • Data gathered from national & international agencies in Indian context • Study of Satellite images, onsite monitoring data and Air Quality Index • Substantial improvement observed in air quality and other environmental indicators Figure 4: Satellite images of NO 2 levels in Indian atmosphere Snehal Lokhandwala: Conceptualization, Validity, Resources, Writing (Original Draft), Writing Pratibha Gautam: Conceptualization, Validity, Formal Analysis, Data Curation, Writing (Original Draft), Writing The authors whose names are listed immediately below certify that they have NO affiliations with or involvement in any organization or entity with any