Pune: About 80 per cent individuals believe that working from home will have an impact on air quality and 70 per cent said they are willing to continue to work from home even after the lockdown in India ends.
This was revealed in a recent survey on how people are experiencing the lockdown. The survey was carried out by New Delhi-based communications initiative, Climate Trends, along with YouGov.
The survey also revealed that 90 per cent of the respondents said that their company saved on operational cost due to work from home (WFH).
The survey was conducted online with a sample size of 1,082 urban professional respondents from across ten largest cities: Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Pune and Surat.
Climate Trends Director Aarti Khosla said that the findings could provide insight for policymakers on how to open up the lockdown gradually.
“The survey shows that citizens are willing to take greater responsibility to ensure that they don’t crowd the streets. Government officials should pay heed to these emerging trends,” said Khosla.
The survey further finds that a staggering 90 per cent believe that air pollution impacts them personally. One in two respondents indicated that they suffer from air pollution-related health problems like respiratory, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.
This explains why individuals are willing to take steps to maintain this unintended reduction in air pollution triggered by the COVID-19 lockdown.
It is not only the employees who are seeing the benefits of this new trend. Around 9 out of 10 employers think that their company has saved on operational costs since employees began working from home.
Eighty-nine per cent of the employers are willing to encourage WFH if proper work infrastructure is in place, productivity is maintained and there is evidence of health benefits due to overall reduction in air pollution. Another 85 per cent also agree that WFH has saved substantial man-hours by eliminating the commute time.
But as cities reopen partially and news cycles report about traffic congestions, it needs to be observed how many businesses will complete this transition.
NEW NORMAL?
Navroz Dubash - Professor, Centre for Policy Research, said that by making smart choices which look towards the future, expanding environmental gains and improving quality of life, India can hope for a better outcome from this crisis.
“Reduced business travel will be the norm for the short and medium-term. WFH is a large global experiment currently underway. If we can nail it right, the benefits will be across several levels of our society from improved productivity, to improved family interactions and cleaner liveable cities,” said Dubash.
WORLD WITH LOWER EMISSIONS
Anirban Ghosh, Chief Sustainability Officer, Mahindra Group, said that the lockdown has given us a glimpse of what a world with lower emissions can be.
“As we resume regular operations we must take every step necessary to lead a life within natural boundaries – travel only when required, use low emission transportation, work from home, build green and invest in clean energy. The survey shows us that Indians want to live responsibly. We must give them feasible alternatives,” said Ghosh.
Jasmine Shah, Vice-Chairperson, Dialogue and Development Commission, Govt of NCT of Delhi said that the reduction of air pollution in the lockdown has shown the importance of tackling emissions at source.
“As the lockdown is getting eased, we hope to put in place supportive conditions like improving access and safety of using public transport and making electric vehicles affordable. Both of these will contribute towards a long term improvement in Delhi’s air and we hope that we will come out wiser from the COVID crisis,” said Shah.