IMPACT OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON THE AIR QUALITY OF INDIA

Towards the end of 2019, a novel contagious virus (COVID-19) came out of Wuhan, China and turned into a disastrous pandemic. Many countries were locked down; completely or partially. The ongoing pandemic not only affected our economies and routine life, but also the environment. This study was aimed to compare the air quality of the Indian subcontinent prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this regard, air quality parameters (ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, PM2.5 and PM10) and meteorological parameters (wind speed and relative humidity) were analysed. The data was obtained from 229 monitoring stations in India and satellite-based Aerosol Absorption Index (AAI) during the springs of 2019 and 2020. The result indicated a significant decline in the concentration mean, six air pollutants (i.e., PM2.5, PM10, NO2, SO2, O3 and CO) decreased by 36.27, 42.96, 44.62, 28.88, 18.35 and 20.51 %, respectively during April 2020 due to less to no industrial activities and vehicular emissions. The spatial variation of each parameter was simulated using the Inverse Distance Weighted (IDW) interpolation method. An Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) model was applied to generate the overall air quality severity zonation map of the country. The zonation map indicated that by adopting cleaner fuel and restriction on biomass burning in the rural and urban sectors can improve the ambient air quality.