'Beautiful' view emerges as polluted sky clears in India amid lockdown

Amid the world's largest countrywide COVID-19 lockdown, India residents are able to see a magnificent sight that has been shrouded in pollution for decades.

On Tuesday, India's Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, announced the extension of country's lockdown to May 3, asking all of its 1.3 billion residents to stay home.

Around the world, the COVID-19 pandemic has had one silver lining: lessening pollution levels for many across the globe.

Satellite images show the reduction of pollution across northern India and Pakistan between the middle of November 2019 and April 12, 2020. Photo/NASA

Satellite images show a significant reduction in haze caused by pollution across northern India and Pakistan from the middle of November 2019 compared to April 12, 2020.

The falling pollution levels for parts of India and Pakistan gave way to blue skies, and allowed residents to behold a magnificent sight.

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Clearing skies from lower pollution levels has left the tallest mountain range in the world, the Himalayas, visible to those in northern India, up to 200 km (125 miles) away.

The last time that cities in the state of Punjab, like Jalandhar, saw the Himalayan Mountains was about 30 years ago.

National Public Radio (NPR) reported that the concentration of fine particulate matter in the air had dramatically dropped since Modi first imposed the countrywide lockdown in March. The Air Quality Index fell as low as 45 late in the month, when a normal value in late March is around 160.

India’s central pollution control board reported that a total of 85 cities in India showed improvement just one week after the lockdown.

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