Research Notes : Covid-19 and the Long-term Environmental Health Implications for India

Abstract

Corona virus popularly known as Covid-19 has taught several lessons to mankind. One of the important positive impacts of Covid-19 is considered to be the positive contribution to the environmental parameters like GHG, Air Pollution, and reduction in BOD in water courses particularly the much-polluted Ganga etc. Therefore, it is necessary to link the Covid-19 responses from economic activities and their impact on health and environment of people. The OECD has published a policy response to Covid-19 in May 2021 and projected its impact on the structure of the economy beyond 2025. It has conducted a study to project the impact on various sectors. The following Figure from the Report indicates that service sector particularly construction and accommodation will be different in the future compared to its pre-covid levels. What is important for environment and health of the people is that it is going to affect adversely more in India than in the OECD countries. Though India has done reasonably well in the propagation of vaccines as we have an advantage of two patents registered by Indian innovators, the death toll seems to be not reckoned with the spread of vaccines.