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The Other Side of the Coin: Dr. Parveen Kumar, Dr. D. Namgyal Column

24 April 2020

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By: Dr. Parveen Kumar, Dr. D. Namgyal

The entire country is under lock down owing to the threat due to corona virus. The lockdown was enforced on March 25 for a period of three weeks till 14 April and was extended on April 14 till May 3. This pandemic has put the modern life on a pause with about 1.3 billion peoples in the country coming to a halt.

This pause and halt was necessary to stop the spread of this pandemic and it helped the country a lot. The countries like United States of America which do not enforced lock down fearing loss to the economy are witnessing loss of lives. As on date about 20,000 peoples have already died in United States of America with no. of corona positive cases crossing one lakh mark. Our Prime Minister put the lives of the citizens first and went for such measures like lockdown and social distancing.

This lockdown is definitely going to affect our economy. The country will see GDP growth rate decline, losing jobs, rise in unemployment and some other issues. But, there is another aspect of this lockdown and that is very positive. The other side of the coin is that the lockdown is proving a blessing for the planet earth. Our planet is reacting positively to this lockdown. Peoples have got an opportunity to connect themselves with nature again.

The US space agency National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has revealed that during lockdown the concentration of aerosols have come down. The cleaner air is perhaps the single greatest positive effect of the lockdown. As a result of this, the air pollution in northern India is at its lowest level of the past 20 years. This made possible the viewing of Himalayan mountain ranges by peoples from Jalandhar in state of Punjab for the first time. Peoples shared pictures of mountains from roof tops, a view that was hidden for the past 30 years owing to air pollution. The System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR) has also reported that in the national capital region, there has been a considerable reduction in particulate matter 2.5, particulate matter 10.0 and Nitrogen dioxide. Particulate matter 2.5 and 10.0 refers to particles having size less than 2.5 micrometer and 10 micrometer. Similar reduction has also been reported in many other cities. The air quality index has improved to satisfactory levels in nearly 90 per cent of the 103 cities. Many of us have seen the picture of much cleaner Ganga at places in Kanpur and Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. The clear water is due to the shutdown of Industries which release harmful affluent in this holy river. The wild life also feels liberated. A few days back an elephant was seen bathing n the holy Ganges. Wild animals are also reported wandering near habitats and on roads as if to enquire about the wellbeing of human beings whom they have not seen for number of days. In Spain, boars have been spotted along the city’s roads and busy avenues snuffing and trotting around where vehicles once jostled for position. A deer was also seen roaming the roads in a Japanese city in search of food.

At the global level too, the lockdown has bring in positive changes. The images released by European Space agency have shown the changing density of harmful gases which were emitted when fossil fuels are burnt. In China where the pandemic first originated, the carbon emissions have fell down by around 25 per cent over a four week period as the factories and industries were shut down. This has been reported according to an analysis carried out for climate website carbon brief. Wuhan from where the first COVID 19 case was reported has a hazardous air pollution level which has now surprisingly come down by 21.5 per cent as per the data released by China’s ministry of Environment and Ecology. Reduction in particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide has been registered in different regions of United Kingdom. London and other major cities have also recorded a dip in the presence of harmful substances. Cities like Paris, Madrid and Milan have also seen a reduction in average levels of nitrogen and carbon dioxide from March 14 to 25 compared with the same period last year.

It has been reported that the emissions while aero plane fly add up to 5 per cent in global warming. With no flights in operation at present, it is definitely giving all of us a chance to breathe in pure air. Waterways are also being benefitted in the absence of lack of boat traffic brought out by large influx of tourists. Reduced tourism in the city of Venice has allowed nature to take control and water in canals have self cleansed. The fishes which were otherwise not visible can now be seen easily. The flowers could bloom in their greatest number for years. An unintended consequence of lockdown is the reduced mowing that has the potential to benefit wild plants and the bees, butterflies, birds, bats and bugs that depend on them for survival. With transport on the roads restricted, the no. of road accidents has come down to almost negligible thus saving the lives of many. The crime rate has also come down sharply. The addicts also do not are getting anything poisonous. They have got a chance to enjoy life without consuming life consuming substances substance like liquor, opium derivatives and others of the same nature.

This lockdown has proved to be a blessing in more than one way. Every challenge comes with an opportunity. This challenge too has given us an opportunity to collectively fight this invisible enemy and see how we can be more organized and collective to find a balance between development and environment. Only then can be save the mother land; our planet earth. The unplanned and unorganized development will lead us no where except towards a catastrophic end. The lock down has taught us one more thing that, ‘when we move out; nature can move in’.

The authors are Scientist and Head, KVK-Leh, SKUAST-K; can be reached at [email protected]