Crystal clear air makes the peaks of the eastern Himalaya visible from the Nepal Tarai

Because of poor visibility due to pollution or weather, rarely these days does one get to see Nepal’s topographical diversity of the Tarai, Mid-mountains and the Himalaya from one place.

But with a shift in wind direction this week and the smoke from north India’s crop residue burning and vehicular pollution blown off to the south, the Himalayan mountains have come out in their full glory and are visible even from the plains of Province 2.

These photographs were taken on Friday from Rajbiraj of Saptari district near the Indian border of icy peaks that form Nepal’s northern frontier with China. It has indeed become rare to see 150km clear across the breadth of Nepal, as the terrain rise like steps from the tropical plains barely 150m above sea level to nearly nine km in elevation.

Usually, for the people of the Madhes the mountains are remote and distant, barely visible most days of the year. For people in the mountains, the Tarai is equally far away. However, not on Friday as nature framed Nepal in one image. The photographs capture golden fields of ripening rice ready for harvest in the Tarai, the forested Chure Range, the Mahabharat range in Udaypur and Sindhuli districts, and beyond them, the white snows of the high Himalaya in one image.

There were similarly clear days just after the Covid-19 lockdowns went into effect in India and Nepal, removing vehicular pollution from the air  However, locals here say that was nothing compared to the crystal clear post-monsoon views this week.

Some of the mountains can even be identified (from left to right): Numbur, Karyolung, Cho You, Ghyachung Kang, Chamlang, Makalu. Of these Cho You and Makalu are eight thousands, but Mt Everest is blocked by the nearer peaks of the Hongu Basin in Khumbu.

On Friday, residents of Rajbiraj near the Indian border could see clear across the breadth of Nepal to mountains like Cho Oyu and Makalu that form Nepal’s northern frontier with China.

All photos: Parmeshwar Jha

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