Tracking Karnataka lockdown's eco-impact

A visible drop in the city’s pollution levels was one of the only few positives in last year's lockdown

Last year’s lockdown had devastated livelihoods, triggering an unprecedented economic crisis. That threat looms large with the extension of the current lockdown. A visible drop in the city’s pollution levels was one of the only few positives. So why not measure it with precision to strategically plan future interventions for a cleaner, greener Bengaluru?

Beyond pollution metrics, a more stringent lockdown could also be time to collate, study and analyse elaborate data on its impact on neighbourhood microsystems, economically insecure groups, nature and wildlife. Last year, there were lapses on the data collection front. Will this time be different?

Vehicular emissions

Deserted roads post the morning hours imply a clear drop in vehicular emissions, a substantial contributor to the city’s air pollution graph. This decline was what came out sharply in the lockdown’s previous avatar too. But due to inadequate analytics, the impact on water quality in lakes differed from one study to another.

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Since the inflow to lakes is low during summer, the current lockdown may not show a dramatic spike in quality, say lake experts. Sewage inflow is more pronounced than rainwater. But this period could be an opportunity to revisit the methods employed to check lake water quality.

“We are not following the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) procedures on composite and grab sampling. The two cannot be compared,” notes V Ramprasad, Friends of Lakes Founder. In the grab sample method, samples are collected from only one location and at one time of the day, unlike the composite method.

Decentralised sampling

To crowd source and decentralise the water sampling, Ramprasad says, a plan is afoot to distribute the instruments to lake groups across the city. “Now, since it is summer, water evaporation is high. The readings could be poor,” he says. But any data collection with a contextual perspective could be helpful.

“Nowhere in history have we seen such a sudden stop in economic activities, which could be comparable to pre-industrial levels of pollution. This offers an incredible opportunity to study current levels and set benchmarks,” notes Leo Saldanha from the Environment Support Group (ESG).

The data from lockdown-induced ecological changes, he feels, could set standards for water and even noise pollution besides the effluent discharges. “The discharge now is largely domestic, and the commercial side is marginal.” With a stricter lockdown, the changes would be even more pronounced.

Consumption patterns

Beyond pollution, the regulatory agencies could collate data on changes in nature, human behaviour, consumption patterns, healthcare and much more. “For instance, there is less travel, but plastic consumption has gone up,” he adds. These could be studied and alternatives explored.

On the healthcare front, pulmonologists could study if there is a decline in asthma and other respiratory ailments. “The studies could also encompass nutrition, public health, etc. Extension workers could go to poorer neighbourhoods and check on their nutritional levels.”

The Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) had recorded a substantial drop in Particulate Matter (PM) 2.5 and PM-10 levels during last year’s extended lockdown.

“The readings were tracked from more than 10 automatic monitoring stations across the city. Correlating the data with that of the previous two to three months indicated a dramatic drop,” recalls a technical officer who was attached to the Board.

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Past experience

The Board’s data and studies by independent climate monitoring agencies indicated a vast improvement in air quality last year. Environmental researchers concluded that such lockdowns might be necessary even without a pandemic, to address climate change.

The clean air during the lockdown also gave a measure of the heavy pollution caused by an unprecedented rise in vehicular numbers in the city, the road dust that hangs in the air at the motorcyclists’ breathing height, the emission from industrial areas and construction sites.

Last year’s data also indicated the need for a more elaborate monitoring mechanism. The sampling sites have to increase, the landscape characteristics of the collection points need to be detailed, and the data has to be authentic and verifiable. Does this not call for a crowd-sourced pollution data collection approach this lockdown?