New Delhi: With a nationwide lockdown in place in view of coronavirus, India continued to breathe easy as pollution level in various cities across the country remained minimal.
Out of the 103 cities where air quality was recorded, 23 registered ‘good’ air quality while 65 others recorded satisfactory air quality, according to the data from the Central Pollution Control Board.
An AQI between 0-50 is considered good, 51-100 satisfactory, 101-200 moderate, 201-300 poor, 301-400 very poor and 401-500 severe.
Air Quality Index is an assessment of the air quality by taking into account different factors. The lower the AQI the better the air is considered to be.
The national capital witnessed a slight dip in air quality after the effect of rain subsided but it remained in the satisfactory category.
India is currently under the biggest lockdown with around 130 crore people asked to stay home in view of the coronavirus outbreak, which has claimed 29 lives and infected over 1000 people in the country.
The government has urged people to avoid unnecessary travelling, significantly reducing the traffic movement across the country.
Since the lockdown was imposed the air quality across the country has shown drastic improvement due to eradication of local pollutants generated due to construction activities and vehicular traffic among others.
Environmentalists said that though it is not the ideal way to bring down air pollution at least it proves that such outcomes can be brought.
