Dense fog shrouds northern India; visibility dips below 100 m

NEW DELHI, (ANI): People braved through a thick fog on Tuesday as dense to extremely dense fog conditions engulfed northern parts of the country, with less than 100 m visibility at 8.30 am in several areas, including Jammu, Patiala, Karnal, while in Delhi’s Palam it dipped to zero.

“Less than 100 m visibility at 8.30 am in Jammu division’s Jammu, U’khand’s Pantnagar, Punjab’s Patiala, Amritsar and Ludhiana, Haryana’s Bhiwani and Karnal, Delhi’s Palam, Raj’s Ganganagar, UP’s Bareilly, Bahraich, Lucknow, Gorakhpur, Prayagraj & Bihar’s Gaya, Bhagalpur and Purnea,” as per India Meteorological Department (IMD).

As many as 40 flights, scheduled to depart from Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI), were delayed because of dense fog, sources informed on Tuesday. However, the airport sources further informed that no flight diversions were reported till 7 am.

While several domestic flights queued for departures were delayed because of inclement weather in the national capital, 18 more flights scheduled to touch down at the Delhi airport were also delayed. Amid a severe cold wave prevailing in the entire north Indian belt, Safdarjung in Delhi recorded a minimum temperature of 6.4°C while Palam recorded a minimum temperature of 7.5°C, till 8:30 am. Visibility in the Palam area was recorded at 50 metres while at Safdarjung, it was 200 metres, as per the data from India Meteorological Department (IMD).

The national capital, which has been grappling with some of the coldest days in its history over the last week, woke up to another cold and foggy day. According to the Metrological department, the visibility in Palam was recorded at 0 metres at 4.30 am while the visibility at Safdarjung is currently at 200 metres.

As was forecast, dense to very dense fog was observed over parts of Punjab, Northwest Rajasthan, Jammu division, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Tripura. “Dense/Very Dense Fog layer (in white patch) extends from Punjab to Bihar across Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh at 0530 hours IST on 10.01.2023,” tweeted the India Meteorological Department.

“Visibility (in meter) recorded at 0530 hours IST of 10.01.2023: Bhatinda and Agra – 0 each. Jammu division, Ganganagar, Chandigarh, Ambala, Patiala, Bareilly, Lucknow, Sultanpur, Gorakhpur and Bhagalpur – 25 each. Hissar, Delhi-Palam, Baharaich, Gaya, Purnea and Kailashahar – 50,” informed the IMD further. Meanwhile, the Northern Railway informed on Tuesday that 36 trains were running late due to fog.

“I am travelling to Gorakhpur. However, my train is running late by 4-4.5 hours on account of the fog,” said a passenger. Meanwhile, Delhi also continued to reel under worsening air quality as the overall AQI breached the ‘severe’ category, at 418.

The AAP government in the national capital had on Monday imposed a temporary ban on the plying of BS-III petrol and BS-IV diesel four-wheelers till January 12. The Air Quality Index from 0 to 100 is considered as good, from 100 to 200 is moderate, 200 to 300 is poor, and 300 to 400 is very poor and 400 to 500 or above is considered as severe. (ANI)