New Delhi, Jan 21 (Inditop.com) The national capital Thursday witnessed the densest fog since 2003, breaking a seven-year record, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. Over 100 domestic and international flights and about 134 train services were affected.
“The fog since last (Wednesday) night has been the densest and prevailed for the longest time since 2003. The weather conditions today (Thursday) broke a seven-year record,” IMD director B.P. Yadav told Inditop.
Heavy fog engulfed the city late Wednesday and blinded visibility till Thursday morning. According to the IMD, the visibility until 10 a.m. was less than 50 metres.
“It was only around 10.30 a.m. that the general visibility improved slightly. But it was still less than 100 metres. It was only later in the afternoon that it rose to 800 metres,” an IMD official told IANS.
Yadav said thick fog in the latter part of January was a natural pattern in Delhi and surrounding regions.
“Dense fog late in the night and early mornings, which we have been seeing over the past one week, is a natural pattern that we see in the latter part of January. The trend will remain the same tomorrow (Friday),” he said.
The weather conditions wreaked havoc on air and railway traffic, causing many delays and cancellations.
“Over 100 arrivals and departures have been affected. Low visibility procedures were enforced and are being used since last night,” an official of the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport said.
From zero visibility in early hours, the runway visibility improved towards noon and was recorded at 750 metres at 11.30 a.m.
The railway schedules also were badly hit.
According to a Northern Railways official, 29 trains were rescheduled, 64 trains delayed by more than five hours – some by as much as seven hours or more – and 41 were cancelled. Some traions were running 14 to 21 hours behind schedule, railway officials said.
On Delhi roads, the white blanket of fog hindered vehicular movement. Traffic pile-ups were reported at south Delhi’s Dhaula Kuan and Dwarka; Mathura Road in New Delhi; Azadpur in the north and outer Ring Road. Public buses were running behind schedule and cars crawled with fog lights on. The Delhi Metro, however, reported no delays in its services due to the fog.
“I was stuck in the chilling cold for one hour this morning. The visibility was very bad and I wasn’t able to see even till 10 metres. I had to drive very slowly with caution. Two or three red lights were not functioning either and made things worse,” said Rajinder Kumar, a motorcyclist from east Delhi.
The minimum temperature recorded early Thursday was 7.2 degrees Celsius while the maximum temperature was a notch below average at 20 degrees Celsius.
