Air quality is way better in Istanbul after lockdown

ISTANBUL

Air quality dramatically improved in the Turkish metropolitan city of Istanbul as people shelter in their homes to help curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, according to the city’s municipality.

The air pollution im Istanbul fell around 30 percent after stay-at-home calls.

In a statement, the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality said the number of vehicles on the traffic dropped as a result of the measures against the spread of coronavirus in the city, including a four-day curfew last week.

The statement also cited Bahar Tuncel, an environmental engineer for the municipality, who highlighted the impact of the fall in the number of vehicles on traffic in air quality, saying: “The limit value should be annually 40 micrograms/cubic meters in terms of particulate matter.”

“Before the pandemic, the particulate matter contaminants were at a level of 45-55 micrograms/cubic meters throughout Istanbul,” she added.

During the period of virus measures, the level of airborne particulate matter dropped below 50, she stressed, adding it even went down to levels of 30 micrograms/cubic meters this week.

Turkey took various measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, including weekend curfews in 31 provinces.

Last week, data from the air quality measurement stations and municipalities across Turkey showed that air pollution in major cities has fallen significantly due to reduced activity during the lockdown.