Breathe easy: 40% drop in Sulphur Dioxide concentration in air across India

The observations are significant as India was in 2019 named the world's largest emitter of SO2

Sulphur Dioxide (SO2) concentration, an air pollutant released by the burning of fossil fuels, reduced across India by almost 40 per cent when the country was shut down for more than two months to contain the coronavirus pandemic, data released by the European Space Agency (ESA) shows.

ESA’s observations show SO2 concentration in Delhi fell when coal-fired power plants and industries shut down for the lockdown, which started on March 24 and now has been eased off. While power plants across the country ceased entirely, some in the states of Odisha, Jharkhand, and Chhattisgarh maintained a substantial level of activity.