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ENVIRONMENT AND EN-VIRAL-MENT: THE PARADOX OF COVID-19
Dr. Jayanti Pandey
W/o Dr. Anil Pandey, DIG FHQ, New Delhi
In the past two decades, India has worked tirelessly for expeditious industrial growth to improve the standard of living of its people. This has certainly brought prosperity which is evident from the rising vehicular fleet on roads, massive expansion of urbanization even in non metro cities and towns. But as a country, we have paid a heavy price for this development in terms of poisoning everything from air to water to land. Every natural resource is overexploited. As per the press release of the World Health Organization (2nd May 2018), around 70 lakhs people die every year from exposure to fine particles in polluted air. According to the State of India's Environment (SoE) report, 2019, 12.5% of all deaths in India are due to Air Pollution. The environment in India was extremely degraded and all the pollutant levels and Air quality index left the safe limits way behind. In this continuous struggle, one more flyer was added in the form of a corona pandemic. Its spread was and still is like wildfire.
To curb the spread rate of corona cases in India and to prepare the country to deal with this unforeseen crisis, the honorable Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi Ji, declared a complete lockdown of 21 days for the entire country, on March 24, 2020, which was extended three times and a total of 68 days of lockdown was witnessed by the country. Various restrictions were posed by the Government of India during this period. Due to this, activities like industrial projects, vehicular movement, construction projects, tourism, and other common transportation activities witnessed a ‘never before’ stagnant phase. In India, apart from taking necessary administrative measures such as restriction on social gathering
events, travel restrictions, management of corona suspects, and increased accessibility to medical care, the Government has directed the citizens to maintain adequate social distancing and to use masks. However, the COVID-19 has created a catastrophic situation for all and it would harm the Indian economy too. The implications will be and are already abysmal.
The worldwide spread of COVID-19 in a very short period has brought the economic and industrial activities to an abrupt halt. Consequent lockdowns have dropped road traffic and put tourism on hold. This has drastically restricted human interaction with nature during this time. Though it has worsened the economic conditions of the country, it has proved to be a blessing for nature and the environment.
“Whenever something bad happens, keep calm, take a few deep breaths and shift the focus to something positive.”
— Roy T. Bennett
Not only in India but across the world, air quality, water quality in rivers, and wildlife have shown a heartening impetus. Our governments have been struggling hard to improve the air quality index for a very long time but due to a huge population and unplanned industrial growth in all major cities, it has always been a challenge. As many of the countries are observing self-quarantine and social distancing for more than three months now, it has given nature a “self-healing time” with reduced human interference in the natural environment. The major impact of this lockdown is observed in the air quality, which is being experienced by everyone and recorded in various official reports. Smog has given way to blue skies in cities like Delhi, marine life is seeing increased activity, pollution levels have dropped in almost all the metro cities and animals, as well as birds, are moving around on their own accord. It was also observed that in metro cities
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