Kathmandu valley see Mount Everest as COVID-19 lockdown cuts pollution; pics go viral

Kathmandu: The COVID-19 lockdown that has brought the whole world to a standstill, has let the natives in Kathmandu Valley (Nepal) to witness Mount Everest for the 'first time in many years'.

The pictures clicked by Abhushan Gautam and shared by Nepali Times on Twitter have gone viral on social media platforms and resulted in comments like "Nature always healed herself" and "Let nature takeover".

Nepali Times shared the pictures and wrote, "The COVID-19 Lockdown has cleaned the air over Nepal and northern India. So much so that for the first time in many years, Mt Everest can be seen again from Kathmandu Valley even though it is 200km away."

"The reduction of vehicular emission due to the COVID-19 lockdown has cleaned the air over Nepal and northern India. So much so that the Himalaya is visible from Chandigarh, Kangchenjunga is visible from Siliguri. And for the first time in many years, Mt Everest can be seen again from Kathmandu Valley even though it is 200km away," the photographer was quoted saying in the Nepali Times.

Earlier in May and April, pictures of Mt Everest being visible from a village in Bihar, several mountain ranges been seen from Uttar Pradesh and Punjab also went viral on social media.

Meanwhile, a Chinese government-backed team has planned to summit Mount Everest this week to measure the mountain's current height.

"As long as the weather holds, the team expects to reach the summit by Friday morning", Wang Yongfeng, deputy director of the mountaineering administrative center of the General Administration of Sport, was quoted by Xinhua News Agency.