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?:abstract
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The outbreak of COVID-19, a global health challenge faced by countries worldwide, led to a lockdown in India, thereby bringing down the emissions of various air pollutants. Here, we discuss the behaviour of surface ozone (O3) concentrations and its precursors, oxides of nitrogen (NOx), carbon monoxide (CO), and volatile organic compounds (VOC) at two Indian megacities namely Mumbai and Pune, closely located yet vastly differing in meteorology due to their locations. Although levels of CO, NO2, and VOC declined sharply after the lockdown in both cities, with NO2 showing the highest reduction, ozone concentration in Pune remained unaffected, whereas Mumbai exhibited a mixed trend, touching even a maximum in between the lockdown. On a diurnal scale, the magnitude of O3 levels during the lockdown period is higher at almost all hours in Mumbai, and in Pune, it is almost identical except during night hours when it is marginally higher in the lockdown period as compared to the normal period. On a whole, the pollution levels were brought down significantly which can be used as a benchmark in the future for the implementation of policies related to air quality management and emission control in Indian megacities by the policymakers. These results also can pave a way for the scientific community for local air quality modelling.
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