100 flights delayed as north India still struggles to beat the fog

Wednesday, January 17, 2024

Residents of Delhi had an exceptionally chilly and overcast morning on Wednesday, which affected both rail and air travel. Long delays at the airport and train stations caused inconveniences for a lot of travellers.

Parts of Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, East Rajasthan, Bihar, West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh, and Assam were reported to be covered in dense fog by the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

At Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA), visibility problems caused schedule disruptions for flights. According to ANI, 53 flights—both domestic and international—were cancelled, and about 120 flights experienced delays because of the thick fog’s reduced visibility. This information was obtained from the airport’s Flight Information Display System (FIDS).

Due to the lengthy delays and cancellations, passengers at the airport experienced severe inconvenience. A passenger described their predicament, pointing out that the weather was beyond their control and that their flight had been delayed for more than two hours.

Rail travel was also impacted; the cold wave and fog caused delays for about 20 trains that were headed for Delhi, including the Puri-Nizamuddin Purushottam Express and the Azamgarh-Delhi Junction Kaifiyat Express.

With Wednesday’s minimum temperature at 4 degrees Celsius, the temperature dropped steadily from Tuesday’s 3.5 degrees Celsius to Monday’s 3.3 degrees Celsius seasonal low. Due to the continuation of cold waves and foggy weather, the IMD issued an orange alert for Delhi on Wednesday.

Soma Sen, an IMD scientist, predicted long, cold days and persistently foggy mornings in the plains. Although there will likely be little change in the minimum temperature, she said there would still be fog and a seasonal decrease in the severity of the cold.

The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) also reported that the air quality in Delhi was classified as “severe” on Wednesday, with the Air Quality Index (AQI) in Anand Vihar measuring at 405 points. In order to address pollution levels, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) activated Stage 3 of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) on Sunday.

Monday saw a noteworthy event: the weather department reported that visibility in several North Indian locations, including Sri Ganganagar in Rajasthan, Patiala, Ambala, Chandigarh, Palam, Safdarjung (New Delhi), Bareilly, Lucknow, Bahraich, Varanasi, Prayagraj, and Tezpur, was zero for the first time this winter.

[Image Source: Business Today]

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