Effects of COVID-19 pandemic on the air quality of three megacities in India

COVID-19 pandemic compelled many countries in the world to go for a nationwide lockdown to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. India started the lockdown on 24 March 2020. We analyzed the air quality of three megacities of India, namely Mumbai, Delhi, and Kolkata, during the lockdown phase and compared it with the pre-lockdown and post-lockdown scenarios. We considered seven major air pollutants: PM2.5, PM10, NO2, NH3, SO2, CO, and O3. We analyzed the data acquired from 56 automatic air-monitoring stations (AAMS) under the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) spread across the megacities. The air pollution level in the eastern part of Mumbai and the western part of Delhi and Kolkata usually remains high. Delhi was the worst polluted megacity, followed by Kolkata and Mumbai. The stop of vehicular movements and industrial lockdown across the nation has substantial effects on the environment, especially in the atmosphere near the Earth's surface. Our analysis showed significant improvements in air quality during the period of lockdown (25 March to 14 April 2020) compared to the pre-lockdown phase (3 March to 23 March 2020) and the same time window of the previous year (25 March to 14 April 2019). The post-lockdown (15 April to 5 May) phase exhibited mixed results. We mapped the spatial pattern of these pollutants and the air quality index (AQI). According to CPCB, PM2.5, PM10, and CO are the major air pollutants in India that reduced by 47%, 41%, and 27% in Mumbai; 52%, 39%, and 13% in Delhi; and 49%, 37%, and 21% in Kolkata, respectively, in the lockdown phase. PM2.5, PM10, and NO2 exhibited significant correlations across the three megacities. This study shows that occasional short-term lockdowns can effectively refresh the air in these megacities.