Persistent dense fog and severe cold conditions continued to cause disruptions in both flight and train operations to and from the national capital on Friday morning, resulting in inconvenience for travelers.
The arrival of nearly twenty passenger trains to Delhi experienced delays of up to 6 hours or more, and a multitude of flights were also behind schedule due to the prevalent fog and poor visibility conditions. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) reported visibility as minimal as 50 meters around 5:30 am on Friday, particularly in isolated regions spanning parts of Punjab, West Rajasthan, Haryana, Delhi, Tripura, Uttarakhand, East Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, and East Rajasthan.
As per the IMD, visibility at Delhi’s Palam airport improved from ‘zero’ at 4:30 am to 50 meters at 5 am, and further progressed to 150 meters at 6:30 am. At 5:30 am on Friday, very dense fog was observed in various parts of Punjab, isolated areas of West Rajasthan, and many regions of Haryana, Chandigarh, and Delhi. Additionally, isolated sections of East Rajasthan and Tripura encountered dense fog, while moderate fog was noted in isolated parts of Uttarakhand, East Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Odisha on Friday morning.
Due to the challenging fog conditions across the country, 22 Delhi-bound trains are operating behind schedule. Notably, five trains, including Khajurao-Kurukshetra Express, Puri-New Delhi Purushottam Express, Hyderabad-New Delhi Express, Rani Kamlapati-New Delhi Bhopal Express, and Kamakhya-Delhi Junction, are delayed by approximately 6-6.30 hours. Another seven trains are anticipated to arrive late by around 2-2.45 hours, including Amritsar-Nanded Express, Rewa-Anand Vihar Express, Muzaffarpur-AnandVihar Express, Vasco-Nizamuddin Express, Amritsar-Mumbai Express, Jammutawi-Ajmer Pooja Express, and Manikpur-Nizamuddin Express. Additionally, nine trains are running behind schedule by about 1-1.45 hours.
In terms of temperatures, several parts of North India recorded minimum temperatures in the range of 3-6 degrees Celsius, with a slight increase ranging between 7-10 degrees Celsius in certain areas of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, north Madhya Pradesh, and Bihar on Friday morning. The IMD foresees no significant change in minimum temperatures over Northwest India in the next 24 hours, with an expected rise of approximately 2 degrees Celsius in the following seven days.
The persistent dense fog and low visibility have impacted flight operations for the fifth consecutive day of the week, leading to complaints from passengers about delayed arrivals at Delhi airport. A traveler arriving from Dubai at IGI airport expressed frustration, stating, “My flight was delayed due to fog in Delhi.”