What years of summits over climate change failed to do has been achieved within a month of lockdown!

Villagers from Sitamarhi district of Bihar woke up to a pleasant surprise on Tuesday when they saw the snow-capped Mount Everest from the roofs of their homes, thanks to the clearer sky and the low pollution level as a result of month-long lockdown, suspending all transport services and shutting down factories.

There was a mad scramble among the residents of Sinhwahini Village from the district bordering Nepal to shoot the majestic view of the Himalaya’s highest peak shining in the morning sun on their mobile cameras and post them on social media.

Mount Everest in Nepal is more than 200 km away from Sitamarhi.

“Today, we can see Mount Everest from the roof of our houses. Nature is balancing itself,” said a local Mukhia Ritu Jaiswal. She attributed the visibility of the Himalayan peak to the lower air pollution and clear sky as a result of the nationwide lockdown which is in force since 24 March.

Many villagers were just thrilled to watch the snow-peaked mountain from naked eyes, without using any binoculars. “I fail to believe Himalaya has come so close to us. It was unbelievable to see the ‘King of Mountain’ from the balcony of my house,” said 65-year-old Rambabu Prasad. “This has brought a lot of comfort to all of us,” he added.

Old-timers said that Mount Everest was visible from their homes till the 70s.

“We could see the snow-capped mountain in between October to March every year till the ’70s. Especially during sunset, it looked so beautiful that we can’t express our feelings in words but in later years, this vanished from our eyes due to blanket of pollution covering it,” said local resident and nature lover Ram Sharan Agrawal.

Environmentalists attribute the phenomenon to the reduced emission of harmful gases in the atmosphere due to the long spell of lockdown in the country and other foreign countries. “It was stunning to get a view of the shining snow-covered Himalayan peak from home. I never imagined this could be a reality one day,” said agricultural scientist Dr Prakash Chandra.

All kinds of transport, such as trains, buses, bikes, aeroplanes have been suspended while all factories are shut in the country since 25 March even as India entered the third phase of lockdown on 4 May. This has cleaned the air, bringing the pollution level much down.