Fact Check: Are Himalayas visible from Jalandhar after 30 years?

The coronavirus lockdown has resulted in a number of issues which have caused a strain on people's lives. As the majority of people stay indoors to stay safe from the pandemic, it has caused a decrease in pollution across the globe. Global pollution levels have dropped drastically as vehicles and other polluting machinery keeps away from the roads. 

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Claim -

Many social media users in North India were posting photos of the Himalayas being visible from their locality. The posts claimed that the Himalayas were visible from Jalandhar and other Northern Indian places, even though the mountains are nearly 200 kilometres away. It was claimed that the Himalayas have become visible now for the first time in 30 years. 

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Rating - Mixture

What is True?

• the pollution level in Indian have reduced drastically after the countrywide lockdown was announced due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

What is False?

• Though various evidence suggest that the Himalayas are rarely visible from Northern India, there have been no reports suggesting that this phenomenon hasn't taken place in the past 30 years. 

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Origin -

The photo first started going around on social media in April 2020. The countrywide lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic had already been implemented which resulted in the pollution levels to drop drastically. Due to decreased pollution levels, social media users claimed that the Himalayas were visible in Northern India for the first time in 30 years. 

Google Trends analysis -

As a number of people started posting photos about the Himalayas being visible from Northern India, netizens were quick to search about the credibility of the photo. This resulted in a surge of search results for the same. Check it out below - 

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