Himalayas Visible for First Time in 30 Years as Pollution Levels in India Drop

People living in the northern Indian Punjab state are amazed by the visibility of the Himalayan mountain range that’s now visible from more than 100 miles away.

This is believed to be a result of the decrease in air pollution due to the lockdowns in the country because of the coronavirus.

Indians who live in the Jalandhar city and its surrounding area have shared several amazing photos online from the views from their homes of the peak.

Some of them wrote that they haven’t seen the peaks for decades!

Nature Is Showing Us Where We Made Mistakes

According to one of the people who saw this happening with their own eyes, Manjit Kang, this is the first time in 3 decades he could see the Himalayas and this was amazing.

He added this shows the power of nature and how we messed it up.

This phenomenon happened thanks to the major improvement in the quality of air in the recent period after the closing down of industries, the cars’ absence from the roads, and the airline flights being reduced and cancelled, all because of the coronavirus pandemic.

According to statistics by the Central Pollution Control Board of India, Delhi had 44 percent reduction in the levels of PM10 on the first day they set up the restrictions.

The PM10 standard measures airborne particulates 10 mcm or smaller in diameter.

According to the report, a total of 85 Indian cities had reduced pollution in the first week of the nation’s lockdown.

On the other hand, the same 17-day period in 2019 didn’t register a single day of good quality of air and in the first 17 days of March in 2020, only three days had good air quality registered.

Welcomed Breath of Fresh Air

This period is definitely one full of unintended fresh air in the country’s polluted and crowded cities.

Unfortunately, India is the home to 21 of the 30 worst polluted areas globally, as noted by data from IQAir AirVisual’s 2019 Air Quality Report, with 6 of them being in the top 10!

The PM of India ordered a lockdown and it’s been happening for more than two weeks. They have a total ban on going out of homes.

Essential services are the only things operating such as electricity, water, health and fire services, groceries, and municipal services.

India Is Being Swept by the Coronavirus

India hasn’t been excluded from the pandemic of the coronavirus- they have nearly 6000 reported cases of the infection and 178 deaths, says data by Johns Hopkins University.

Even though the famous mountain range became more visible than in recent period, it’s also more deserted.

This is because a lot of the mountains in India are closed for climbers due to the virus.

Sources:

SNOPES

DAILY MAIL

CNN