An unintended effect of Telangana's
ten-day-long lockdown has been the drastic improvement in the state's air quality.
Currently, the air in the state, according to the Air Quality Index (AQI) colour scale, is 'green', meaning that the air is clean and has a low amount of particulate matter in it - a result of the low number of vehicles on the roads during the ongoing lockdown. The air quality in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh has also improved.
Experts have said that apart from the low amount of vehicular emission, the suspension of most commercial activity is what has caused this drastic improvement in the air quality of the two states.
The imposition of the 3-month-long lockdown in Telangana last year too had brought down pollution levels dramatically. Sightings of local fauna had also shot up across the state. However, following the withdrawal of the lockdown, the fall in air quality had been just as rapid. Air quality fell again in just two days. There had been no improvement in the AQI since then.
However, the recent lockdown has once again reduced pollution levels. The Central Pollution Control Board is observing the air quality and the status of pollutants in the air and releasing regular AQI reports. According to these, the AQI in the state capital, Hyderabad, is 29 points, while in the AP capital, Amaravati, it is 20 points. (The AQI uses numbers from 0 to 500 to signify the state of the air of a location. The lower the number, the better the quality of the air.)
The report also pegged Rajahmundry's air at 27 points, Tirupati's at a slightly higher 43 points, Eluru's at 47 points, and Visakhapatnam at 53 points.
Though this may be a welcome lockdown-induced change, the same lockdown has left many small business owners, daily wagers and informal workers facing
extreme livelihood insecurity.