Covid-19 and its related environmental quality issues along ganga river, Varanasi, India

Abstract

COVID-19 made people around the world in terrifying and appalling circumstance which held back all collaborative stitches that is the government decreed people to stay in homes for suppressing the disease spread amid people. Pandemic situation due to Covid-19 has lead to worldwide lockdown. On the other hand, it has increased the quality of the environment especially in hydrosphere and atmosphere progressively throughout the world. The global shutdown from March to June 2020 made liable in assessing the environmental condition which is eccentric accomplishment when collating with past two decades. This study demonstrates change in the water and aerosol quality with the aid of remote sensing in Ganga River of Varanasi city, Uttar Pradesh state of India. Sentinel data obtained from February to July of 2020 used to determine the variation of pollution levels during different phases of lockdown. NO₂ levels derived from Sentinel data shows hazardous level of 5.64x10^-5mol m^-2 in March which is progressively decreased to 5.29 x10^-5mol m^-2 for the month of April. NO₂ level further gradually increased after the unlock 1.0. Similarly, CO levels obtained from Sentinel data shows hazardous level of 0.0517mol m^-2 in February which is progressively decreased to 0.0490 mol m^-2 for the lockdown periods and it was gradually increased after the unlock phase. Further, Landsat data has been used to show Suspended Particulate Matter and pollution variation between lockdown phases. The high concentration of SPM value for March month ranges from -48.7773 to -48.7812 ,there is drastic decrease in concentration of SPM in which reflection value ranges from -48.7772 to -48.7806 in month of April noticed in the study area.Again there is drastic increase in July values ranging from -48.7753 to -48.7796 which is very high when compared to the lockdown SPM levels.The present study brought to light significant variations in the pollution level during the lockdown phases.