Human Enemy but Environment Friendly?

Introduction

We humans while running in the race of life always tend to forget that our very existence is not dependent on material things but on mother nature .It is always said that when you take things for granted, the things you are granted get taken away, similarly when we humans started to take the gifts of nature for granted and stopped appreciating and enjoying them, the spread of covid-19 created circumstances where it took from us the very opportunity to enjoy these gifts but also made us realise the value of these gifts. The saddest part is that we humans were so engrossed in our own day to day lives that it took a pandemic to make us realise the importance of a healthy environment.

Though the spread of covid-19 all over the world has unleashed a great amount of terror upon humans. With people dying each day, people working from home and some not even being able to go to work due to the lockdown, it has also unexpectedly damaged the economy. Although covid-19 has created gloomy and tough days for humans but on the other hand it has created better days for the environment.

Since a very long time India has struggled with pollution, in fact according to the World Economic Forum, in February, India became the 6 out of 10 of the world’s most polluted cities. According to the reports of CNN, India is a home to 21 of the world’s 30 cities with the worst air pollution and our New Delhi tops that list.

On March 24, our Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi announced the world’s largest nation-wide lockdown encompassing 1.3 billion people to control the spread of Covid-19 for a period of three weeks which was subsequently followed by another four lockdowns. With such a massive population of people at their homes, it has brought all the economic activities to a standstill which in turn is proving to be quite beneficial for the environment. Though the primary motive behind these lockdowns was to curtail the spread of corona virus among more and more people but along with that this lockdown made a significant and positive impact on the environment.

Environmental benefits post Covid-19

Covid-19 seems to have caused various environmental benefits and they are:

1. Improvement in the Quality of Air

According to WHO, New Delhi was ranked the most polluted city in the world in May, 2014. The air quality of the nation’s capital according to the air quality index used to be 200. And when the level of pollution used to reach its maximum level, it used to reach to 900 and sometimes beyond the measurable scale.

But as Delhi’s 11 million registered cars have temporarily gone off the road and the entire factory and construction work has come to a stand-still, the Air Quality Index has fallen below 20. Suddenly the skies now are clearer and brighter which is very rare yet beautiful sight.

Reduction in traffic and Noise Pollution

No country is unfamiliar with the greatest traffic in the cities of India like New Delhi and Bombay. But now with no cars on the roads and no production in the factories, there has been a significant reduction in the level of noise pollution.

Where at one point we weren’t even able to hear each other’s voice due to massive noise to now being able to enjoy the calm winds and the chirping of birds, there has been a drastic shift in the pollution level for good.

Dolphins seen on the ghats of Kolkata

After 30 years, the critically endangered South Asian River Dolphins also known as Ganges Dolphins have been spotted back in Ganga River. As a result of reduced pollution, these dolphins have been spotted at various Ganga Ghats of Kolkata.

Increased number of Flamingos in Mumbai

Due to the lockdown imposed to prevent the spread of Covid-19, tens of thousands of flamingos have gathered in the city of Navi Mumbai. The birds normally migrate to the area every year, but the residents have reported that this year there has been a massive increase in their number.

Ganga water fit for drinking in Haridwar

Due to the lockdown, there has been a significant reduction in the discharge of ashes, industrial and municipality waste water and other sorts of waste in the river as a result of which for the first time in the longest years, the Uttarakhad Pollution Control Board Water from Har-ki-Pauri in Haridwar was tested and the results reveal that the ganga water is now fit for drinking.

Visuals of a cleaner River Ganga have emerged from Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur as well as Varanasi. In a rare sighting, fishes can be seen near the Varanasi ghaat steps. This seems to have happened because of absence or crowds and clean water.

Reduced electricity consumption

According to the data tracker developed by the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago, India’s electricity consumption has fallen by 18.72% due to the lockdown.

The Covid-19 lockdown has shaken the entire humanity and it has made everyone of us realise how important nature is for our day to day living. The remarkable improvements in the environment have made us realise that it is not too late and our mother Earth can be saved. Since our every action affects the Earth, it is important that we take the right steps in the right direction. Most importantly the lesson that it has taught us is ‘better environment will lead to better tomorrow, but no environment will lead to no tomorrow’. Thus it has become the need of the hour for us humans to understand, acknowledge and learn from our past mistakes and make move towards creating a better and healthier environment.

(The Author, Priyana Gupta is second-year law student at Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies, GGSIPU)