Himalayas visible for first time in India in 30 years as pollution drops amid lockdown
As a result of plunging pollution levels resulting from steps taken to control the spread of the novel coronavirus, India’s snow-covered Dhauladhar mountain range can be seen by locals for the first time in 30 years now.
To many locals, the Dhauladhar Range sight — which translates into “White Range” and forms part of the Himalayas — is something they have never seen in their lives, notes SBS.
Others were willing to express their social media feelings about it, including former Indian cricket player Harbhajan Singh, who wrote:
“Never seen Dhauladar range from my home rooftop in Jalandhar. Never could imagine that’s possible. A clear indication of the impact the pollution has done by us to mother earth.”
Government statistics have shown, according to CNN, that India’s capital New Delhi has seen a 71 per cent decrease in the hazardous particulate matter known as PM 2.5. The particulate matter, which lodges deep into the lungs and passes through vital organs and the bloodstream, poses a variety of significant health hazards for people.
Similar declines have been reported in air pollutants in major cities such as Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata and Mumbai.
Jyoti Pande Lavakare, the co-founder of Indian environmental organization Care for Air, told the network:
“I have not seen such blue skies in Delhi for the past 10 years …It is a silver lining in terms of this awful crisis that we can step outside and breathe.”
