07 Jul 2020

The COVID–19 pandemic has brought negative as well as positive impacts globally. 

As a way of combating COVID–19, nations were put under lockdown leading to limited movement of traffic and low activity in major industries resulting in the reduction of harmful gases into the ozone layer.

In an interview, director in the Department of Waste Management and Pollution Control, Ms Oarabile Serumola said during the lockdown there was a reduction in the release of the objectionable matter into the atmosphere across the country.  

Ms Serumola said gases such as nitrogen dioxide, an indicator pollutant, which was commonly emitted through motor vehicle exhausts as a result of the combustion process, had declined during the lockdown as traffic volumes were reduced drastically. 

She said comparing the first two weeks of April 2019 and 2020, a period that coincided with the lockdown period, Gaborone experienced a decline of about 67.5 per cent in air pollutants.

Ms Serumola noted that the northern city of Francistown also experienced a decline of about 59.3 per cent in pollutant concentrations over the same period. 

She further revealed that declines in concentrations were attributed to reductions in the number of motor vehicles within the cities and the shutting down of industries that were normally emitting pollutants into the atmosphere. 

Ms Serumola said the decline in pollutants was an indication that industrial activities and motor vehicle movements in cities and towns contributed significantly to pollution. 

She further pointed out that there were lessons learnt from the COVID–19 lockdown in relation to environment management, adding that in future it would be prudent to put in place measures that promoted cleaner technologies such as the use of sola engines as well as the use of cleaner fuel. 

Ms Serumola also said best practices such as the use of public transport and sharing of transport should be employed since pollutants would be reduced in the atmosphere.  Ends