Colombo's air quality drops due to vehicular movement despite curfew

COLOMBO (News1st) : Air quality in Sri Lanka's capital Colombo deteriorated on Sunday due to an increase in vehicular movement, officials said, despite a countrywide curfew. "The air pollution in the morning was recorded at 46 on the Air Quality Index," Sarath Premasiri, a senior scientist at the National Building Research Organization said. The figure on the index depicted that the air quality was 'good'. However, Premasiri noted that the air quality on Sunday had dropped when compared to the period during which the lockdown style curfew was in effect. "During the curfew, air pollution levels in Colombo ranged between 25 and 30 on the Air Quality Index," he observed. Sri Lanka entered a nationwide curfew on Sunday as part of efforts to stem the spread of the coronavirus. Travelling without a valid curfew pass has been prohibited during this period.