Published Paper Details:

Amid COVID-19 pandemic, a nationwide lockdown is imposed in India initially for three weeks from 24th March to 14th April 2020 and extended up to 3rd May 2020. Due to the forced restrictions, pollution level in cities across the country drastically slowed down just within few days which magnetize discussions regarding lock-down to be the effectual alternative measures to be implemented for controlling air pollution. The present article eventually worked on this direction to look upon the air quality scenario amidst the lockdown period scientifi-cally with special reference to the megacity Delhi. With the aid of air quality data of seven pollutant parameters ( PM2.5, SO2, NO2, CO, O3 and NH3) showing the spatial pattern of air quality in pre and during-lockdown phases. The results demonstrated that during lockdown air quality is significantly improved. Introduction A outbreak, named COVID-19, was detected in Wuhan, China, in Dec 2019, and more than 100 countries were affected with disastrous outcomes within three months. On 11 March 2020, it was found that the spread of COVID-19 was caused by the new Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 and declared as a pandemic The first documented case of COVID-19 in India was detected on 30 January 2020 in Kerala and increased to three on 3 February when three students returned from Wuhan, China and the first death was registered on 12 March. Till 3 May 2020 the combined number of overall diagnoses with COVID-19 was more than 40 thousand across India. In order to avoid illness, countries have strictly regulated the movement of persons and transportation; limit human interactions; impose stringent quarantine; ban large-scale private and public gatherings; promote social distances; regulate private and public transport and economic activity. India has been undergoing a national lockdown since 24 March 2020, which began with a voluntary public curfew on 22 March, followed by a 21-day lockdown starting from 24 March. The closure of the manufacturing industries, the limitation of human movement and the regulated public transit system have contributed to a decline in the emission of pollutants. Along with the restriction steps to level out the disease curve, several other elders have been affected. Studies by numerous researchers have demonstrated how the shutdown has increased the efficiency of the freshair air . In India, air pollution has been a focus of intense discussion at all stages, primarily due to intensified anthropogenic activities such as rapid urbanisation, accelerated population growth , increased oil usage, automobile emissions and industrial emissions. The goal of this analysis is to examine improvements in air quality in terms of concentration of contaminants during the implementation of lock-down initiatives to counter the COVID-19 pandemic in major cities in India. The objective of the project is to a. Study the changes in air quality during the lockdown period. b. Understanding the overall improvement in air quality during the lockdown period in comparison to the pre-lockdown period and proceeding years. c. Calculate. Monitor and compare Data for a total of eight criteria pollutants namely Particulate Matters (PM2.5 and PM10), Sulphur Dioxide (SO2), Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2), Carbon Monoxide (CO), Ozone (O3), Ammonia (NH3) and Nitrogen monoxide (NO). d. Provide insights into the air quality enhancement obtainable by short term periodic suspension of polluting industrial activities as well as transportation and will hopefully supplement necessary start ups to the academicians, policy makers and citizens to chart out healthier policies so as to manage air pollution. In this study, various datasets were taken from WAQI, CBCP AND CPAA. Data is aggregated to a single set by combining and averaging the dataset related to various perimeters obtained from different stations available between the geological locations of 13 cities (Ahmadabad, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi, Gurugram, Hydrabaad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai and Patna). And further classified as averaged monthly datas. As study focusses on analysis of lockdown effect before, after and during the lockdown, the whole study period is divided into 7 monthly intervals and various analytics related to different phases are derived from it.