Already reeling under a cold wave since the beginning of the new year, large parts of North India, including the national capital Delhi on Monday witnessed a thick layer of fog descend on the capital as the minimum temperature was recorded at 7 degrees Celsius. Fog accompanied by smog caused poor visibility throughout the city and NCR.
An average minimum temperature of 4.6 degrees Celsius was recorded from 1-8 January. This is the lowest average temperature which was recorded for the first week of January. The Safdarjung weather station, which is a marker for Delhi, saw cold wave conditions for the fourth consecutive day on Sunday, as it recorded a minimum of 1.9 degrees Celsius, the second-lowest January temperature recorded in one and a half decade.
Visibility in the region dropped to less than 25m around 6 am and the vehicles were seen with their headlights blinking during the morning hours. People were seen around gas stations and on street corners huddled around large bonfires to beat the cold.
As per Satellite imagery and available visibility data from the IMD, the fog layer extended from Punjab and adjoining northwest Rajasthan to Bihar across Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.
The dense fog that engulfed the national capital caused delays in flight operations at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA). Just past midnight, the IGIA issued a statement saying: “Low visibility procedures are in progress at Delhi airport….Passengers are requested to contact the airline concerned for updated flight reactions.”
Around 118 domestic flight departure has been delayed from the IGIA in the national capital due to bad weather and other related issues, an airport official said on Monday. Around 32 domestic arrivals have also been delayed, the official added.
“Due to low visibility, three flights diverted to Jaipur- Air India Express from Sharjah to Delhi, Spicejet flight from Ahmedabad to Delhi and SpiceJet flight from Pune to Delhi,” the Delhi airport official said, adding about the diversion of a flight of Air India Express from Sharjah to Delhi to Jaipur because of the reduced visibility at the IGI Airport.
More than 300 trains have been cancelled or running late on Monday as severe fog engulfed many states of Northern India reducing visibility. According to the Ministry of Railways, 267 trains have been cancelled on Monday, of which 128 are cancelled due to bad weather. Also, 170 trains lost punctuality, of which 91 were delayed on Monday.
The Air Quality Index from 0 to 100 is considered as good, while from 100 to 200 it is moderate, from 200 to 300 it is poor, and from 300 to 400 it is said to be very poor and from 400 to 500 or above it is considered as severe.
