BLUE SKIES: Air pollution has dropped to record-low levels in India

Happy News

THE coronavirus outbreak has meant that there are no cars on the roads or factories pumping out pollution in India, and the sky has turned blue.

The city of New Delhi has some of the worst air pollution in the world. Before the virus outbreak, many would wear face masks to filter out the pollutants from the air.

The lockdown has meant that many of the sources of this pollution have gone quiet.

Now, for the first time in decades, the air has cleared up.

Typically, New Delhi has a reading of 150 on the Air Quality Index. Last week, it recorded 38 – about as good as anywhere else in the world. The skies have turned blue and citizens say that the air no longer tastes ‘metallic’.

Plus they can even see the stars again!

Jai Dhar Gupta, an environmental activist and entrepreneur who is campaigning for India to have cleaner air, said the change means that “this is not something that can’t be reversed. We’ve just reversed it.”

Above, a picture of the air in Delhi today. Below, the air just last year.

Picture credits: Getty