Delhi air pollution plummets - 27th May 2020

Delhi, India’s capital, located in the north, counts among the most polluted cities on Earth.

Scenes from last November portray the thick polluted clouds regularly seen hanging over the city. The crystal clear skies currently overhead during the Coronavirus pandemic are another world.

The sweeping lockdown, in response to the deadly virus, is responsible for the stark reversal. Shuttering industries and construction and halting of public transport has resulted in near empty roads.

Siddarth Singh, energy and climate policy expert, holds that air pollution is a problem caused by humans.

Siddarth Singh: We have created it. And when human activity stops naturally air quality improves. But the extent to which it has improved has come as a surprise to everyone.