People living in some parts of India are seeing the Himalaya mountains crystal clear for the first time in decades. This happened after the coronavirus quarantine reduced the amount of pollution in the country and helped the air clear up a bit.
Locals in the Jalandhar district in Punjab in Northern India, around 125 miles (just over 200 kilometers) from the mountains, are enjoying the majestic view. One of the people celebrating the unspoiled view is Indian cricket player Harbhajan Singh, with other Twitter users chiming in how pollution is a serious problem in India. Scroll down for Bored Panda's interview with Harbhajan.
One person even said that this was the first time they could clearly see the Himalayas in nearly 30 years.
Cricket player Harbhajan Singh was overjoyed that the drop in pollution made it possible to see the Himalayas from his home
Image credits: harbhajan_singh
Harbhajan told Bored Panda that "It’s unbelievable to see the mountains from my home town." He said that it's beyond his imagination that a thing like this would happen.
He pointed out that the air quality near his home has "obviously improved a lot" and that's the reason why people can see the mountains that they could "never" see before.
Harbhajan told us that he's staying at home with the family and keeping busy. "I'm learning to cook which is something very new to me. Doing yoga with my wife and playing with my daughter. Watching movies, Netflix, Hotstar, Amazon prime." He added that he's praying for everyone's wellbeing.
Image credits: gauravbhanu89
This is the part of India where people have reported finally being able to see the Himalayas due to a drop in air pollution
Image credits: gull_1985
Image credits: Manu_Mehta_ind
One woman said that this is the first time in nearly 30 years that she could clearly see the Himalayas from her home
Image credits: KangManjit
Image credits: kash_education
India is currently under a 21-day lockdown in order to slow down and stop the spread of the coronavirus. With fewer people out on the streets and fewer businesses open, pollution levels in parts of the country have dropped and there is less smog.
“To save India, to save its every citizen, you, your family, every street, every neighborhood is being put under lockdown,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said after the nationwide lockdown was imposed on March 24. India currently has over 5k confirmed coronavirus cases and at least 149 people have died due to the illness.
Others living in Northern India also shared photos of the mountain range taken from their homes
Image credits: susantananda3
Image credits: dhruv158cap
Image credits: Rajesh18Gandhi
Image credits: manaman_chhina
Image credits: covsinghtj
Image credits: abbu_pandit
Image credits: yahoo_mehra
Image credits: RohitWadhwa52
Image credits: amitsharma_110
Image credits: jssandhu86
Image credits: ABfile7
India’s Central Pollution Control Board has confirmed that the coronavirus lockdown has lead to an improvement in air quality. While the India Today Intelligence Unity noticed a 33 percent improvement in air quality between March 16 and 27.
The country has a population of more than 1.3 billion and the World Health Organisation states that around 1.5 million of them died from air pollution in 2012. This is because India exceeds the safe limits of air quality established by the WHO by five times.
The Covid-19 quarantine has had an effect on pollution not just in India but also around the globe. Satellite images have shown a drop in air pollution in some European and US cities after people were told to stay home and non-essential businesses were told to close.
Here's how some people reacted to the photos
Image credits: Evelyn_Kilday
Image credits: iampauldevine
Image credits: pranab_jha
Image credits: Rajnish_Sood_
Image credits: bhotna
Image credits: JohnPau24580307