Lockdown cleanses Shimla air

Kuldeep Chauhan

Tribune News service

Shimla, May 4

The ambient air quality of Shimla, the “Queen of hills”, has seen a marked improvement in the last 40 days of the Covid-19 lockdown period. The respirable suspended particulate matter (RSPM) level in the capital city has plummeted by over 74 per cent during this period as compared to that in the summer season of 2019, which peaked in June 2019.

There has been virtually negligible carbon footprints, few plumes of smog and dust from vehicular, construction activity, forest fires that otherwise used to pollute the air in the city, observes Dr Surender Shandil, an environment engineer.

“The coronavirus lockdown has brought everything to a standstill. One can see lush green jungles and hear birds chirping, especially roosters crowing from distant villages in the surroundings, due to a drastic drop in the noise level as well,” says a bird watcher.

The traffic movement dropped by over 90 per cent during the lockdown period that started from March 23 that completed 40 days on Sunday.

The data accessed from the state pollution regulator reveals that the respirable suspended particulate matter (RSPM) P10 dropped to 21 micro gram per cubic meter on Monday from 81 micro gram per cubic meter recorded on June 10, 2019, which was the highest in recent years of the peak summer tourist season.

The regulator reveals that the RSPM level recorded at The Ridge kept on fluctuating between 21 micro gram per cubic m in the early morning hours and 30 micro gram per cubic m the afternoon hours during the lockdown period.