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.



		EDITOR'S MAIL EDITOR'S COMMENT PANDEMIC EFFECTS FRANKLY SPEAKING NEW PANDEMIC REALPOLITIK PANDEMIC EFFECTS NEW PANDEMIC NEW PANDEMIC SECURITY SCENE KERALA MADHYA PRADESH J&K SCENE PAKISTAN WATCH SIGNS OF THE TIMES WATER CONSERVATION OPEC CHANDIGARH DIARY HITS & MISSES PANDEMIC EMERGENCY MEDIA SPACE ENGINEERING OUR CONSTITUTION ESSENCE OF THE GITA ART OF LIVING Issue:May' 2020 Subscribe Now	NEW PANDEMIC 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.