Temporary reduction in air pollution due to anthropogenic activity switch-off during COVID-19 lockdown in northern parts of India

Due to fast and deadly spread of corona virus (COVID-19), the Government of India implemented lockdown in the entire country from 25 April 2020. So, we studied the differences in the air quality index (AQI) of Delhi (DTU, Okhla and Patparganj), Haryana (Jind, Palwal and Hisar) and Uttar Pradesh (Agra, Kanpur and Greater Noida) from 17 February 2020 to 4 May 2020. The AQI was calculated by combination of individual sub-indices of seven pollutants, namely PM(2.5), PM(10), NO(2), NH(3), SO(2), CO and O(3), collected from the Central Pollution Control Board website. The AQI has improved by up to 30–46.67% after lockdown. The AQI slope values − 1.87, − 1.70 and − 1.35 were reported for Delhi, − 1.11, − 1.31 and − 1.04 were observed for Haryana and − 1.48, − 1.79 and − 1.78 were found for Uttar Pradesh (UP), which may be attributed to limited access of transportation and industrial facilities due to lockdown. The ozone (O(3)) concentration was high at Delhi because of lesser greenery as compared to UP and Haryana, which provides higher atmospheric temperature favourable for O(3) formation. The air mass back trajectory (AMBT) analysis reveals the contribution of air mass from Europe, Africa and Gulf countries as well as local emissions from Indo-Gangetic Plain, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra states of India.