Lockdown: A boon to Mother Nature?

Covid-19 mostly referred to as ncovid (novel Coronavirus) has led to lockdowns in most parts of the world. With no vaccination or drug for the treatment, governments have been left with no other choice than to go for lockdowns. Quarantine and isolation are the measures taken by the governments to reduce the spread of ncovid.

You might be wondering where this term “lockdown” came from. Let me take you a few years back. Presumably, people of Italy were the first who witnessed lockdown in the renaissance period 400 years ago. That was because of the outbreak of the Plague in Italy. Health Department of Italy thought of stopping the spread of Disease by using this measure. People of Italy at that time were confined to their houses and a strict vigilance was kept on them. So now you got to know from where lockdown term came from!!

With this lockdown coming into action, the metrics around the world have changed. Globally, levels of air pollution are dropping fast. People are restricted to their homes; Industries, Schools, Universities- everything in this world has come to a halt. Due to all this, nitrogen dioxide-a pollutant mainly emitted by vehicles has hit a rock bottom levels.

Before the lockdown, there was an era where We- “human beings” had begun to think that nothing in the world could stop our race to accomplish our objectives- whether those were of landing on the moon to manufacturing the fastest cars in the world. We had become so ignorant about the Mother Nature that we did not pay heed to the environmentalists who always raised their voices on the deteriorating condition of Mother Earth.

Though time to time governments have conducted various summits to save Earth from various types of population but these all went in vain. Moreover now television channels have also started the telecasting about how our environment is healing after this current lockdown. One such example which I want to quote is of sacred river of India i.e. Ganga whose water has now been declared fit for drinking.

Most NO₂ comes from road transport and power plants, and it can aggravate respiratory illnesses such as asthma. It can also worsen the symptoms of people suffering from lung or heart diseases. NO₂ emissions have been a thorny problem for the whole of the world especially for cities of India. In discussion with bangloremirrior the famous pulmonologists -Dr. Vivek Anand Padegal, said, “There is a decline in the number of patients suffering from respiratory problems these days.”

This is simply not a case with India alone, the news from all around the world are coming where pulmonologists have seen a 20-25 percent decrease in respiratory issues just because of a decrease in air contamination in view of Coronavirus lockdown.

Amid the news of fewer patients and a decline in the levels of nitrogen dioxide being emitted by vehicles these days, there is another story too which is going on around the world.

The graph below gives an insight about cities of India which still are the world’s most polluted cities despite the present scenario.

What I intend to state is that the maximum percentage of vehicles in this world are used to transport industrial produce rather than agrarian produce. The main reason for this is that the industrial produce belongs to Industrialists and Industrialists are the root cause of this pollution. To be precise about the pollution I mean to say any type of pollution which is caused by these industries such as- Air Pollution or Water pollution that is caused by the pumping of industrial waste into the rivers.

Covid19 lockdown all around the world has shaken every one of us to such an extent that now it is the high time we should start thinking about how important is Mother Nature to us for our survival. The improvements in nature have made us believe that what environmentalists have always said that Mother Earth can be healed is not a myth.

From New Delhi to the USA everyone is having cleaner air to some extent. The same is the case with Paris, Sydney, and Los Angeles where air pollution has reduced by 46, 38, and 29 percent respectively.

For breathing unadulterated air to cleaner rivers, spotting different wildlife animals into the urban communities here are some significant natural changes that we have seen as the effect for Coronavirus lockdown in India:

1. View of Himalayas from Punjab

People of Punjab, a northern state of India were able to see Himalayas ( a mountain range) for the first time in this decade. They were able to see the Himalayas from Jalandhar (a city in Punjab) which is 100 km away from the Himalayas. This spectacular moment happened due to a 66 percent reduction in AQI from last year’s value of 122 to 42 this year.

2. Ganga and Yamuna rivers are cleaner

After the closure of industrial units in lockdown due to Coronavirus, water of Ganga and Yamuna rivers has become cleaner. Yamuna river’s pollution levels have exponentially decreased, said Vice-Chairman of Delhi Jal Board Raghav Chadha. Even the Pollution Control Board Officials of the state of Uttarakhand have claimed that Ganga water is now fit for drinking.

3. A large number of Flamingos seen in Mumbai

As per the news of NDTV, citizens residing in the area of Navi Mumbai have reported the large number of Flamingos near the creek. Usually these migratory birds (flamingos) visit Navi Mumbai every year between October and March. This year has witnessed a sharp increase of 25percent in their flock visiting to Navi Mumbai. This is mainly because of a decrease in air pollution, water pollution, and pure algae which is their food for survival.

The government’s move to switch to electric vehicles is a good step for a cleaner environment. The recent improvements in AQI (Air Quality Index) should be maintained by replacing the conventional methods of fuel generation with renewable energy or low carbon emission sources.

In a Nutshell, I would like to say that this phase of a clean environment is temporary and it will phase out with the lifting of lockdown. Consequently, we, (Human Beings) should put a check upon our ambitious and reckless growth pattern which is illegitimately hurting the biological system of our planet Earth. We all need to adopt a minimalistic way of living use as few resources as possible and put as much effort as possible to replenete the resources we have consumed. This lockdown has proven to be a boon to our environment but if we still did not mend our ways, then sooner or later our natural resources will deplete and so will be the survival.

( Source : NDTV,Bombay Mirror, India Today )

Author: Nikhil SharmaI am working for a healthcare company. Which is working towards a goal to make the lives of Hospitals painless with the help of technology. I have written plenty of articles before but that was only during my student years. Right now with lots of enthusiasm, I have started this website svasthyatech.com to aware people of all the advancements that are going on in the field of the healthcare industry.