Dense fog enveloped north India, including the national Capital, on Thursday morning severely affecting flight and train operations due to sharp drop in visibility, leaving passengers high and dry.
While around 70 north-bound trains, including Rajdhani services, were delayed and around 30 others rescheduled, more than 100 flights at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport were delayed due to low visibility.
Rajdhani trains from Kolkata, Sealdah, Bhubaneswar and Patna are among the trains that were three to five hours late, a Northern Railway official said. Departure of around 30 trains was rescheduled due to bad weather conditions, he said.
The New Delhi-Darbhanga Bihar Sampark Kranti Express, New Delhi-Gaya Mahabodhi Express, New Delhi-Jabalpur Superfast Express, New Delhi-Hyderabad Decan Telangana Express and New Delhi-Howrah Poorva Express are among the trains that were rescheduled.
According to officials of IGIA, a total of more than 200 arrivals and departures of flights were affected on account of inclement weather as well as “other reasons”. Besides, 16 flights were cancelled for “other reasons”, they added.
The flight operations at the airport are “intermittent” but not “suspended”, an airport official said. Airport authorities implemented low visibility procedures, at around 0300 hours itself, which helped in carrying out flight operations in such conditions.
As many as six flights were diverted and 16 were cancelled to nearby airports on account of “other reasons”, officials said while maintaining no diversions or cancellations took place due to foggy conditions.
According to officials, 49 departing flights and an equal number of arriving ones were delayed as adverse conditions persisted in the morning hours.
Around 94 flights or approximately 10 per cent of the total aircraft movements at the airport were delayed due to “other reasons”. It could not immediately ascertained what were the “other reasons” that led to such a large number of flights getting delayed in a single day.
The national Capital’s airport, the busiest in the country, handles around 1,100 movements per day.
The Palam weather office recorded visibility at zero metre at 8 30 am while at Safdarjung observatory, it was marginally better at 150 metres.
Group Captain RK Vishan, Scientist, Delhi wing, Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said that the sky will remain clear, however, moderate to dense fog can be witnessed in wee hours of Friday morning. “The maximum temperature would be around 25 degrees Celsius and minimum temperature will remain at 11 degrees Celsius,” said Vishan.
“The minimum temperature was 11.9 degrees Celsius, two notches above the season’s average. The maximum will be around 26 degrees Celsius,” a Met official said.
Humidity was 98 per cent at 8.30 am. On Wednesday, 18 flights and 50 north-bound trains were delayed as heavy fog engulfed the city for the first time this season.