Thaindian News

New Delhi, Jan 27 (IANS) A thick layer of fog blanketed the national capital for almost 16 hours bringing down the general visibility to near zero Wednesday, disrupting over 100 flights and 160 trains, while many were rescheduled or even cancelled.
In the city, visibility dropped to near zero at 5.30 a.m. and continued to remain below 50 metres, said an India Meteorological Department (IMD) official. It affected road traffic as well, with motorists forced to drive slow.

Visibility at the runways of Indira Gandhi International Airport was below 100 metres at 9.30 a.m., affecting over 100 domestic and international flights.

“The low visibility procedure was initiated at 7 p.m. Tuesday and continued till 10:55 a.m. Wednesday. Almost 167 flight were operated under the low visibility procedure and as many as 30 domestic and international flights were diverted due to fog,” said an airport official.

The fog wreaked havoc on rail services as well with over 160 trains affected by dense fog.

“As many as 25 trains were cancelled, 35 rescheduled and 100 running late by three hours,” said a northern railways official.

Thousands of passengers were stranded yet again at the Delhi airport and railway stations and complained of no proper information being provided to them.

“My flight to Jaipur was scheduled to take off at 6.20 a.m. and in order to reach on time I started at 3.30 a.m. from my east Delhi house. When I reached the airport I was told that the flight had been cancelled. I wish the airlines would have informed me in advance as it would have avoided a lot of trouble,” Ramesh Singh, a businessman, told IANS.

Passengers at the New Delhi railway station, Nizamuddin railway Station and Old Delhi railway station also had a harrowing time.

“I have been waiting at the railway station from Tuesday night to catch the New Delhi-Puri Express. When I reached the station I was told that it has been delayed by two hours and the present status is that it is running late by more than 12 hours,” said Shyam Mohanty, a daily-wage worker, who needs to reach Orissa early to attend to his ailing mother.

The minimum temperature Wednesday settled at 9.8 degrees Celsius, two notches above average while maximum settled at 24.5 degree Celsius, three notches above the normal.

The weatherman have forecast for some respite from dense fog Thursday following an approaching western disturbance.

“There will be fog Thursday but for a shorter duration,” said an IND official.