Benefits of lockdown in Agra: No pest attack on Taj Mahal, cleaner Yamuna

AGRA: The lockdown has not only kept just tourists away from Taj Mahal this year but also the insects that stick to it every summer.
In a first, in more than five years, swarms of insects, Goeldichironomus, that descend upon the Taj during summers have not made 'annual visit'.
Green and black stains of insect poop on the marble in the monument was a common sight in summer months
The insect invasion -- a result of excessive breeding in stagnant, polluted Yamuna water -- has not occurred this year since the river is cleaner as lockdown has brought industrial activity to a halt.
The dark stains have earlier necessitated elaborate treatments like mud packs and once even a scaffolding around the monument that kept tourists away for weeks.
Superintendent archeologist (chemical) in ASI, Agra circle, MK Bhatnagar said that Yamuna hadn’t recorded such clean waters in the recent past. “That has curbed insect breeding due to which there are no stains on Taj this year. I have visited the banks of the river and was surprised. A reflection of the monument could be seen in the transparent waters, that’s a rarity.”
TAJ IN 2019 vs 2020
This is what the river Yanuma looked like last year
What the Yamuna near the Taj looks like post the lockdown
Central Water Commission (Agra region) attested quality of the water has improved. Electrical conductivity —- which estimates amount of total dissolved salts in water —- has reduced to 965 in April from 1,286 microsiemens per centimetre in March.
Similarly, units of bicarbonate (acidity in water) had dipped from 333.8 in March to 239.6mg per litre in April, chloride (indicating pollution in water body) from 183.3 to 128.1mg per litre in this period and hardness from 256 to 228mg per litre. Assistant research officer in lower Yamuna division, Chandrapal said that all numbers showed major improvements.