Heavy fog in Delhi disrupts air, rail traffic

A man rides a motorcycle through a road amid dense fog on a cold winter night in New Delhi. Delhi is experiencing a dense fog, severely disrupting air, road and rail traffic in the national capital as cold wave conditions continue across most parts of north India with temperatures at most places remaining below normal.

Agencies/New Delhi

A thick blanket of fog engulfed the Indian capital yesteday, disrupting dozens of flights and hampering rail traffic.

Runway visibility at the Indira Gandhi International Airport was less than 50m since early yesterday, leading to delays or cancellations of about 90 domestic and international flights.

“My flight has been diverted to Ahmedabad, thanks to the fog,” Anuja Mohan, who was on her way to Delhi from Dubai, said.

People waiting at the airport complained that the authorities were not providing information about the delays and cancellations.

“Original departure time was 6.40am. It was rescheduled to 8.45am due to fog. Even about an hour later, nobody bothered to explain what the real problem is,” said Dinkar Krishnan, who was travelling to Chennai.

At least 20 flights were diverted to Chaudhary Charan Singh airport in Lucknow late Sunday.

The Lucknow airport has the capacity to accommodate 24 planes at a time, and with the sudden landing of 20 flights diverted from Delhi, the airport was chock-a-block with planes.

Private carriers had to bring in their ground staff to deal with the sudden rush of aircraft and a flurry of passengers.

Airport officials said that more than 5,000 passengers were stranded there.

Rail services around the capital region were also hit by delays of 46 trains.

Vehicular traffic in the city was also affected by the poor visibility. Commuters travelling from Delhi to the satellite towns of Noida and Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh and Gurgaon in Haryana faced a harrowing time.

NDTV network reported said the city was experiencing its worst winter fog in four years. Weather officials forecast fog and cold conditions until the end of the week.