Lockdown a boon !
Rakesh Lohumi
from Shimla
In c r e d i b l e
pictures of
azure blue Delhi
skies and clear
blue waters of
the Ganga and
Yamuna rivers went
viral within days of the
countrywide CoVid-19
lockdown.A variety of
wild animals, including some
endangered ones,were seen strolling on deserted streets
and captured on camera by
residents in severalcities. The
melodious-chirping of birds
replaced the continuous
irritating din of vehicular
traffic.
The lockdown has indeed
proved a boon for the
environment not only in
India but across the world.
Wild animals are venturing
into streets and moving
around undisturbed as
people are forced to stay
indoors.
Shimla Skyline
Social media was flooded with images of the majestic
snow-clad Dhauladhar range in
Himachal clicked from as far
off as Jalandhar, indicating a
dramatic drop in the high
levels of air pollution, which
marred visibility all these
years. Elephants strolling
around Harki Pauri in
A herd of spotted deer on the road to Tirupati.
Haridwar, Nilgai (Blue bull) in
Noida's GIP Mall, lakhs of olive
ridley turtles swarming the
Rushikulya coast in Odissa.
The lockdown has indeed
proved a boon for the
environment not only in India
butacross the world.
Wildanimals areventuring into
Incredible Delhi Skyline
streets and moving around
undisturbed as people are
forced to stay indoors. Rabbits
appearedon main roads of
Christchurch in New Zealand,a
herd of goat descended from
Nilgai takes a stroll at Noida's sector 18 during
lockdown
rocky mountain to roam
around in the desolate city of
Llandudnoin North
Wales,herds of deer marched
on to the streets of Narain Japan and peacocks danced
around in the posh markets of
Dubai and Ronda city in Spain.
In Europe, China and other
countries the shutdown to
contain CoVid-19 infection saw
sharpdecline in
levels of pollution
in major cities.
The restrictions
imposed on
human activities
to enforce
effective social
distancing has
provided a
breather to the
over-exploited
planet, allowing it
some time to
rejuvenate. For a
while, the planet
seems to have
become a
healthier place
for humans to
live.
A Small Indian civet was spotted
in Kerala's Kozhikode
Air quality in the national
capital, the most polluted city
of the world, turned as good as
that of hill stations like Shimla,
known for salubrious environment. Normally
obscured by a pall of thick
haze, the skylinewas clearly
visible, marked by towering
structures against
anuncharacteristically deep
blue sky. Pollution declined
dramatically and air quality
index(AQI), whichmostly
hovers around severely
unhealthylevel of 200,fell by
more than 60 percent to
satisfactory levels. Often the
index plummeted to under
50 indicating good air
quality. People could see the
moon and the glittering
stars at night.
Wild animals freely roam Bihar's
forests and fields
being dischargedinto the river,
clear blue waters replaced the
grey foamy flow of Yamuna in
no time. Similar change was
observed in various other rivers across the country
and,in particular, the water
quality ofholy Ganga
improveddramatically at
Haridwar. The level of total
dissolved solid (TDS) came
down by a whopping 500
percent and it is now fit for
"achaman" (ritual sipping),
says environment scientist BD
Joshi.
Tremendous improvement
in the quality of air and water
within weeks alongwith the
appearance of wild animals on
streets from nowhere make
obviousthat indiscriminate,
unregulated and excessive
human activity is responsible
for the rapid degradation of
environment.The lockdown
also helped to establish that
vehicular emissions are the
primary contributor to air
pollution.It will be a matter of
much discomfiture for the
auto-manufacturers lobby,
which maintains that vehicular
emissions do not have a major
role incontaminating the air.
Human activity came to a
standstillacross the country
abruptly as Prime Minister
Narendra Modi announced a
complete lockdown on March
24. Passenger transport
services, including trains,
domestic and international
flights,were suspended,
vehicles went off the road
andindustrial and business
activity came to a grinding
halt. Amidst
dishearteningreports about
the travails of thepoor people,
particularly migrant workers
who were hit hard by the
lockdown, some amazing
things starting happening on
the environment front.
A week into the lockdown
stories of wild animals
wandering on to the desolate
streets started pouring in. A large number of such incidents
were reported in the media
from withinIndia and various
other countries, where
lockdown is being observed to
prevent spread of deadly
Corona virus. It seemed that
the ousted wild creatures were
waiting to reclaim the habitats usurped by the humans.
It is now obvious that a
lockdown brings about
incredible
improvement in the air
and water quality and
provides the muchneeded
space for the
wild life. It will be
worth considering
whether a planned
lockdown for a week or
ten days, once or twice
in the year, can be
imposed as a measure
to check
environmental
degradation in
hotspots.
V a r i o u s g o v e r n m e n t
agencies could not achieve the
objective of cleaning major
rivers like Ganga and Yamuna
over decades even after
spending billionsof Rupees but
the lockdown helped to
accomplish it in a matter of
few days.
All these positives from the
lockdown only reiterate that
curbing human activities is the
best way out to save the
environment. It may lead to
some rethinking and give a
new direction to the ongoing
battle to protect the
environment and find a longterm
solution to the seemingly intractable problem of air and
water pollution. It could well
be a turning point and the
post-pandemic world may see
accelerated and intensive
efforts to shift from fossil fuels
to cleaner energy sources,
particularly in the automobile
and industrial sectors.
The lockdown has for the
time being put brakes on the
consumption culture, the root
cause of environmental
degradation. Economies across
the world have been hit
severely and a global recession
is round the corner. Economic
revival in the post-pandemic
world may take a long time
and the consumption
expenditureis not going to pick
up soon. The distress caused
by Corona pandemic may have
a sobering effect on the
extravagant ways of the rich
and make them adopt
environment-friendly lifestyles
to save the planet from further
degradation.
It is now obvious that a
lockdown brings about
incredible improvement in the
air and water quality and
provides the much-needed
space for the wild life. It will be
worth considering whether a
planned lockdown for a week
or ten days, once or twice in
the year, can be imposed as a
measure to check
environmental degradation in
hotspots.
The economic cost of
lockdown is huge but the
government is already
spending much funds without
much success in solving the
problem.Instead of piecemeal
measures like the odd-even
scheme often implemented in
Delhi to curb air pollution
during peak season, a planned
partial lockdown may yield
better results.