Night-time map lights up India, testifies success of rural electrification

A night-time map of the earth by NASA shows that nighttime lights in India have increased between 2012 and 2016. The images clicked by NASA's Suomi-NPP satellite shows bright night light activity in the Indian sub-continent. Union Minister Piyush Goyal claimed that this testified the success of rural electrification & implementation of clean energy projects in India.

NASA's satellite images show outlines of continents, laced with webs of light. In the latest global mosaic of Earth's night-light that NASA released based on images collected throughout 2016, India is seen brightened dramatically. Taking off from the images, John Nelson, a cartographer compared the equivalent pixels on two different maps and calculated the difference by subtracting the brightness value of one from the other

An article in the National geographic says that India's brightened night-light comes as no surprise. "The country is home to more than its fair share of people living without electricity, and its government has been working to change that by establishing a rural electrification program and investing heavily in renewable energy," the report said.

NASA's map shows where Earth's nighttime lights have increased and decreased between 2012 and 2016. Increased activity has been depicted in blue and dimmed areas have been depicted in pink. With a splash of blue spread throughout, India looks bright at night. The map incidentally shows dimming of lights in parts of the developed world, Nelson suggested that efficient lighting technology may have been the reason.

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