Coronavirus lockdown | Delhi, Mumbai see 40-50% fall in air pollution

Comparing the time frame from last year the dates from January 1 to March 24 and March 25 (First day of lockdown in India) to April 20 show averaged nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentrations over India.

Faizan Javed

April 27, 2020 / 09:39 AM IST

File image

According to the data received from the European Space Agency (ESA), Delhi and Mumbai - among other major cities in India - see around 40-50 percent fall in pollution level. This positive effect on air quality across the country is due to the ongoing nationwide lockdown in India.

A comparison between the time frame from January 1 to March 24 and March 25 (first day of lockdown in India) to April 20 with those of 2019 shows averaged nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentrations over India.

Coronavirus India News LIVE Updates

Claus Zehner, ESA's Copernicus Sentinel-5P mission manager, gave credit to Tropomi instrument on the Sentinel-5P satellite and with the help of this high air quality reduction can be observed in concentrations in Europe, China and India.

Vindhyachal Super Thermal Power Station, which is the biggest power plant station as compared to last year saw around 15 percent fall in air pollution. Interesting in these new maps are the high values of NO2 concentration in northeast India.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

Show