Analysis of air pollutants in Covid 19 pandemic lockdown- a case study of Bareilly, UP, India

The contemporary world is dealing with the rise of the novel coronavirus pandemic. Globally, as on September 14, 2020, there have been 28,918,900 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 922,252 deaths, reported to WHO with the cases still on the rise. In India, as a preventive measure, complete lockdown was imposed all over the country from 25th March 2020 which has significantly reduced the vehicular movement. Bareilly was reported among the seven most air polluted cities of Uttar Pradesh where PM10 was almost four times the annual standard of 60 ​μg/m³ averaging 226 ​μg/m³ for the year 2015 and 2016.The city Bareilly of State Uttar Pradesh do not have too much of industries and therefore industries cannot be blamed. Alternatively, vehicular or construction emission sources could not be ruled out and it can be concluded that primary sources of air pollution could be either automobiles or incomplete construction work. The present study is focused on monitoring of air pollutants PM10, PM2.5, SO₂ and NO₂, at Bareilly district of Uttar Pradesh and analyzed during the lockdown period due to pandemic COVID 19 from three monitoring stations. In the first week of lockdown, i.e. from March 25, 2020 to March 31, 2020 the PM10 and PM2.5 concentration averaged 60 ​μg/m³ and 47 ​μg/m³ respectively which is below the NAAQS average limits of 80 ​μg/m³ and 60 ​μg/m³ respectively. Whereas the concentrations of gaseous pollutants SO₂ and NO₂ was found to be much below the monthly NAAQS limits of 60 ​μg/m³ averaging 21 ​μg/m³ and 15 ​μg/m³ respectively. In April 2020, the vehicular movement was minimum and the level of air pollutants, PM10, PM2.5, SO₂ and NO₂, were found to be 54 ​μg/m³, 41 ​μg/m³, 19 ​μg/m³ and 14 ​μg/m³ respectively which is minimum in the six months of study from January 2020 to June 2020 and lowest in comparison to the air quality data of last 25 years.It can therefore be concluded that vehicular emissions contribute significantly for air pollution in Bareilly city.