Published 13:05 IST, March 26th 2020
After Day 1 of Coronavirus Lockdown, Delhi air now superior to Mumbai; Here's the proof
Just a day after the 21-day national lockdown started due to the Coronavirus crisis, the air quality has significantly improved across the country.
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Just a day after the 21-day national lockdown started due to the Coronavirus crisis, the air quality has significantly improved in key cities. According to the SAFAR index, while Delhi, Mumbai and Pune's air quality has been in two digits, Ahmedabad's AQI has been slightly higher.
As per the SAFAR index, Delhi's AQI stands at 67 and Mumbai's AQI stands at 79 putting the two cities in the 'satisfactory' category. Pune's Air Quality Index stands at 48 falling under the 'Good' category. Meanwhile, Ahmedabad's AQI stands at 103 keeping the city in the 'moderate' category.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a 21-day lockdown in the entire country effective from midnight of March 25 to deal with the spread of coronavirus, saying that "social distancing" is the only option to deal with the disease, which spreads rapidly. The 21-day curfew is applicable to all states, districts, and villages - irrespective of whether they were earlier under curfew or not. The plying of vehicles and other such reduced markedly since Sunday's Janta Curfew.
The Coronavirus Crisis
As of date, India has reported over 650 confirmed positive cases of COVID-19. Out of all the states, Maharashtra has crossed a total of 115 positive cases becoming the highest number of cases detected in the country. Meanwhile, thirteen people have died so far due to the deadly virus. Due to the outbreak, India has been put under a national lockdown for 21 days. Further, India has also closed the India-Pakistan border and restricted passenger movement at the border with Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, and Myanmar.
Presently, there are around 471,311 confirmed cases of COVID-19 which has led to the death of around 21,293 people. Meanwhile, around 114,642 have reportedly been recovered. The hardest-hit region, after China, is Italy, Iran and South Korea, where the number of cases is rising by the hour.
13:05 IST, March 26th 2020