Asymmetric nexus between air quality index and nationwide lockdown for COVID-19 pandemic in a part of Kolkata metropolitan, India

Abstract

The diffusion of COVID-19 or Coronavirus since last few months is the prime matter of concern for the entire world. The government of India had declared the complete lockdown from 24th March. After the second step lockdown, now third step lockdown was declared. So, India in Lockdown 3.0 situation. Although the economy of our country has severely been affected by the impact of lockdown, this situation is good for natural healing. Major metropolitan cities of India are trying to recover from various pollution. This study, therefore, attempts to analyze the trend of air pollution before and during a lockdown situation in Kolkata metropolitan and surrounding areas. To identify air pollution trends before and during the lockdown, the non-parametric Maan-Kendall test and Sen's slope estimator have been applied in this study. This research has been done based on air quality index data of the Kolkata metropolitan region's observatory stations. The time range of the data set is from mid of February to 2nd May. The study results show that air pollution has been reduced up to 80% in almost all the stations due to strict lockdown.