This study aims at analyzing the change in air quality following the COVID-19 lockdown in India and its perception by the general public. Air quality data for 100 days recorded at 193 stations throughout India were analyzed between 25th March to 17th May 2020. A nationwide online survey was conducted to obtain public perceptions of air quality improvement (n=1750). On average, approximately 40% improvement in the air quality index was observed, contributed by a reduction in 40% of PM₁₀, 44% of PM_2.5, 51% of NO₂ and 21% of SO₂. There was a significant difference between the levels of all the pollutants before and after the lockdown (p<0.05), except ozone. The correlation between PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 with ozone was significant after the lockdown period, indicating that a significant portion of the particulates present in the atmosphere after the lockdown period is secondary. The values of PM_2.5/PM₁₀ were found to be greater than 0.5 in North East states and this observation points to the long-distance transport of PM_2.5 from other places. The survey for public perception showed that 60% of the respondents perceived improvement in air quality. Household emissions were perceived to be a significant source of pollution after the lockdown. An odds ratio (OR) of 17 (95%, CI: 6.42, 47.04) indicated a very high dependence of perception on actual air quality. OR between air quality and health improvement was 5.2 (95%, CI: 2.69, 10.01), indicating significant health improvement due to air quality improvement. Google Trends analysis showed that media did not influence shaping the perception. There was a significant improvement in the actual and perceived air quality in India after the COVID-19-induced lockdown. PM₁₀ levels had the most decisive influence in shaping public perception.

本研究旨在分析印度 COVID-19 封锁后空气质量的变化及其公众的看法。分析了 2020 年 3 月 25 日至 5 月 17 日期间在印度各地 193 个站点记录的 100 天空气质量数据。开展了一项全国范围的在线调查，以获取公众对空气质量改善的看法 (n=1750)。平均而言，由于 PM _{10减少了 40%、PM 2.5}减少了44% 、NO ₂减少了51%以及 SO ₂减少了 21%，空气质量指数平均改善了大约 40% 。除臭氧外，封锁前后所有污染物的水平均存在显着差异 (p<0.05)。_{PM 10}和 PM _2.5之间的相关性锁定期后臭氧的显着增加，表明锁定期后大气中存在的大部分颗粒物是次要的。发现东北各州的 PM _2.5 /PM _{10值大于 0.5，这一观察表明 PM 2.5的长距离传输}来自其他地方。公众意见调查显示，60%的受访者认为空气质量有所改善。家庭排放被认为是封锁后的一个重要污染源。优势比 (OR) 为 17 (95%, CI: 6.42, 47.04) 表明感知对实际空气质量的依赖性非常高。空气质量与健康改善之间的 OR 为 5.2（95%，CI：2.69，10.01），表明空气质量改善显着改善了健康。谷歌趋势分析表明，媒体并没有影响感知的形成。在 COVID-19 引发的封锁之后，印度的实际和感知空气质量有了显着改善。PM ₁₀水平对塑造公众认知具有最决定性的影响。