First Lohri and now Makar Sankranti: the national capital continued to experience severe cold conditions on Sunday morning. The minimum temperature dropped to 3.4 degrees Celsius at Lodhi Road, marking this winter’s lowest, and was four notches below the normal.
A thick layer of fog was observed in several parts of Delhi. This represented a marginal dip from Saturday’s 3.6 degrees Celsius and Friday’s 3.9 degrees Celsius, both of which were the season’s lowest on those respective days. The mercury has consistently been dropping in the national capital for the past few days. The maximum temperature was recorded at 20.6 degrees Celsius, one notch above the normal.
With the air quality in Delhi reaching “severe” levels, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) has decided to implement restrictions under Phase III of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP). This includes a ban on the operation of BS-III petrol and BS-IV diesel four-wheelers, with a potential fine of `20,000 for violators. This measure will be enforced in Delhi and the districts of Gurugram, Faridabad, Ghaziabad, and Gautam Budh Nagar, aiming to reduce vehicular emissions, a major contributor to air pollution. The Air Quality Index (AQI) on Sunday stood at 447.
Due to dense fog, more than 100 flights were delayed at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport on Sunday morning, with 10 flights being diverted to Jaipur. Delhi Airport experienced chaos as dense fog disrupted flight operations, leaving passengers stranded inside planes. Airlines communicated through social media that flight schedules might be impacted due to adverse weather conditions.
Among the affected flights, Air India’s flight AI 185 from the national capital to Vancouver, scheduled to depart early in the morning, was rescheduled. Runway congestion, worsened by limited visibility, resulted in a gridlock where incoming flights had no available parking slots, leaving travelers stranded inside their planes after landing. One person died, and four were hospitalized with injuries after a multi-truck pileup due to fog on the Eastern Peripheral Expressway in Greater Noida, according to the police on Sunday.
The Indian Railways reported that 22 Delhi-bound trains were delayed by one to six hours due to fog in the national capital and several other states.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the Safdarjung base observatory recorded 3.5 degrees Celsius (four notches below the normal), Palam 5.9 degrees Celsius (one notch below the normal), Ridge 4.4 degrees Celsius, and Ayanagar 4 degrees Celsius (four notches below the normal).
The maximum temperatures recorded in Palam, Lodhi Road, Ridge, Ayanagar, Jafarpur, Narela, Pusa, and Mayur Vihar were 16.1 degrees Celsius, 19.9 degrees Celsius, 19.5 degrees Celsius, 19.8 degrees Celsius, 15.5 degrees Celsius, 17.3 degrees Celsius, 18.7 degrees Celsius, and 17.2 degrees Celsius, respectively. While sunlight helped to increase the maximum temperature during the day on Sunday, the night and morning were characterized by a cold wave with dry, icy northwesterly winds, compelling people to stay indoors.
It was the coldest Makar Sankranti after Lohri this year. This day is followed by warmer and longer days and marks an end to a bitter cold spell. Day duration from now will increase, and nights will shorten, linked to the strong belief that the extreme cold conditions will also recede hereon. This period of Uttarayan lasts for around six months. Sankranti means the movement of the sun, and Makar Sankranti is the most important of all the 12 Sankranti that fall in a year.
A blanket of fog also enveloped North India during the night and early morning, reducing visibility and affecting movement on Sunday morning. At Indira Gandhi International Airport, dense fog brought the visibility down to zero at 5 am, marking the longest spell of dense fog this winter.
More than 100 flights, including a special IndiGo flight carrying Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, to Manipur’s Imphal for the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, were delayed at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport on Sunday morning, with nine flights being diverted to Jaipur.
Several passengers found themselves stranded inside their flights at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport on Sunday, enduring hours of delay as adverse weather conditions prevented queued planes from taking off.
Several flights were lined up on the runway post-landing in the morning because no parking space was available for these flights. The airplanes on the ground, scheduled for departure, have been unable to take off owing to the dense fog and low visibility. For the last two hours, passengers have been stuck inside their flights despite having landed at the airport.
Akasa Air posted an update on the microblogging site X, saying that their flight schedules have been affected at Delhi, Chennai, Varanasi, Bagdogra, and Lucknow due to adverse weather conditions. “Our teams are working continuously to assist all our customers. Kindly check your flight status before leaving the airport,” it said. The Northern Railway said at least 22 trains were delayed by over one hour on Sunday morning.
According to an airport official, nine international flights were diverted to Jaipur between 4.30 am to 10.30 am. The international flight that was initially diverted to Mumbai due to bad weather was later re-routed to Jaipur, the official said.
Delhi Police, through its official social media handle, urged citizens to exercise caution while driving in the foggy conditions anticipated for January 14, 15, and 16. Commuters should be extremely careful while driving on highways and use fog lights, the IMD said.
According to the weather office, “very dense” fog is when visibility is between 0 and 50 meters; between 51 and 200 meters is “dense”; between 201 and 500 meters is “moderate,” and between 501 and 1,000 meters is “shallow.”
The IMD has predicted very dense fog and cold wave conditions for more two days in the national capital. The city could see dense fog till January 20, it said.