Delhi woke up to a chilly Wednesday and witnessed a thick, dense blanket of fog, leading to almost zero visibility levels and affecting landing and departure of early morning flights and schedule of trains.
Officials said 81 trains were running late, 21 were been rescheduled and three cancelled due to poor visibility in Delhi. Eight international flights were also delayed at the Indira Gandhi International airport due to the poor visibility on the runways.
Three international flights were diverted and eight domestic flights cancelled. Vehicular traffic on major roads was slow in the morning due to heavy fog. According to a MeT Department official, the visibility was recorded at 100 meters at 5:30 am and 8:30 am respectively at Safdarjung. Visibility was recorded at zero at 5:30 am at Palam.
Airport authorities said the visibility was poor on Wednesday morning and several flights were delayed. It is noted that as per the Flight Delay Index (FDI) of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Delhi’s IGI airport delay rate was five which was the highest of the season among all the international Asian Airports.
Moreover, the International Airport has been tagged under the “excessive delay” status.
Meanwhile, Delhi International Airport limited (DIAl) in its Press statement said inbound flights to Delhi were diverted during low Visibility Period (lVP) due to Delhi climate, however, flights cancelled during lVP due to Delhi weather was nil.
“Departing flights delayed due to Delhi weather was 38, “ DIAl said in its statement.
Railway officials confirmed that trains running late include the Himgiri Express (26 hours), Amarnath Express (20 hours), Purbia Express (18 hours), Kaifiyat Express (19 hours), Avadh-Assam Express, Punjab Mail, Kota-Patna Express, Nauchandi Express, Bihar Sampark Kranti Express, Gareeb Rath, Mau-Anand Vihar Express, Triveni Express and many more.
Due to continued fog, the railways cancelled four major trains — 14258 Kashi-Vishwanath Express between Varanasi and New Delhi, Himgiri Express, Marudhar Express between Jaipur and lucknow and the 12232 Chandigarh Express.
The Met Department has announced clear sky for Thursday morning however the chances of dense to very dense fog are also likely. “The maximum and minimum temperatures would be around 25 degree Celsius and 12 degree Celsius respectively,” a senior MeT official tweeted.
Minimum temperature was 11.2 degrees Celsius, two notches above normal, while the humidity was recorded at 98 per cent at 8.30 AM. The MeT Department has forecast clear sky for the day with the maximum settling at 25 degrees. On Tuesday, the maximum was 24.8 degrees Celsius, while the minimum settled at 9.4 degrees Celsius.