Today is the 10th day of our nationwide lockdown in view of the coronavirus outbreak and people are coming to terms with this unprecedented impact. As India's 1.3 billion people continue to stay at home on this 10th day, the country's most polluted holy river Ganga has seen significant improvement.

As per the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data, the water in the river is now found to be suitable for bathing and propagation of wildlife and fisheries. Reportedly, the improvement in the quality of water has also been observed in Ganga’s tributaries like Hindon and Yamuna. Experts say the water quality is expected to further improve in the coming days till the enforcement of lockdown.

With the dumping of industrial waste into it, the river water was found to be unfit for bathing the whole way until it drains into the Bay of Bengal in West Bengal. But due to the lockdown, there's a drastic reduction in the amount wastes dumped by the public and industries and the self-cleansing properties have improved due to which the water quality has improved. Environmentalist Manoj Misra said it is a very good time for the CPCB to study the level of pollution coming from the industry.