Flights, trains delayed in Delhi due to low visibility amid fog

New Delhi [India]: Several flights were delayed at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) on Monday due to low visibility amidst fog.

Visibility may likely reduce in moderate fog and then improve with shallow fog, the India Meterological Department said.

Dense fog conditions are very likely in isolated places in Delhi tonight and on January 25, the IMD forecast said. Further, it said that dense fog is expected to be seen in isolated pockets over Delhi, Bihar and Odisha on January 23.

Dense to very dense fog conditions are likely to prevail in the morning over parts of Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Uttar Pradesh till January 26 morning, according to the weather forecast.

Simultaneously, several trains bound for the national capital were running behind schedule.

12801 Rewa-Anand Vihar Express topped the list with a delay of 5.45 hours, followed by 12716 Amritsar-Nanded Express with a delay of 5.30 hours, said an official statement by Northern Railways.
12423 Dibrugarh-New Delhi Rajdhani Express, 22691 Banglore-Nizamuddin Rajdhani Express, 15658 Kamakhya-Delhi Junction Brhamputra Mail, 12447 Manikpur-Nizamuddin Express, 12192 Jabalpur-Nizamuddin Express, 12615 Chennai-New Delhi Express, 12919 Ambedkarnagar-Katra, 12367 Bhagalpur-Anand Vihar Express, 12553 Saharsa-New Delhi Vaishali Express and 12801 Puri-New Delhi Purushottam Express all faced a delay ranging from 2 hours to 5 hours.

Similarly, 12451 Kanpur-New Delhi Shramshakti Express; 12621 Chennai-New Delhi Express; 12417 Prayagraj-New Delhi Express; 12393 Rajendranagar-New Delhi Express; 12779 Vasco-Nizamuddin Goa Express; 12305 Howrah-New Delhi Rajdhani Express; 12309 Rajendranagar-New Delhi Rajdhani Express; 22811 Bhubneshwar-New Delhi Rajdhani Express; 12723 Hyderabad-New Delhi Express; 12458 Bikaner-Delhi Sarai Rohilla Express; 12313 Sealdah-New Delhi Rajdhani Express all experienced a delay between 45 minutes and 2 hours.

Meanwhile, dense to very dense fog conditions were observed in isolated pockets of East Uttar Pradesh and Bihar as well. Isolated areas in Punjab and Tripura experienced dense fog, while pockets in Haryana-Chandigarh, West Rajasthan, and West Bengal reported moderate fog.

IMD said that shallow fog affected the Jammu division, Delhi, West Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand, contributing to visibility challenges.

The visibility challenges were evident at various locations, as reported at 5:30 a.m. today. While Jammu Division reported 500-meter visibility, Patiala in Punjab recorded a mere 50-meter visibility.
As per IMD data, both Palam and Safdarjung in Delhi recorded only 500-metre visibility, impacting flight operations. Meanwhile, Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh struggled with 25-metre visibility, while Prayagraj was at 50 metres.

In Bihar, Gaya reported 25-meter visibility and Patna reported 200-metre visibility.

On January 21, Minimum temperatures were in the range of 3-7 degree Celsius over most parts of Punjab, Haryana-Chandigarh-Delhi and West Uttar Pradesh, in some parts of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh and 8 to 10 degree Celsius over many parts of East Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
These were below normal by 2- 4 degree Celsius in many parts of Haryana-Chandigarh-Delhi and West Uttar Pradesh and in some parts of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh and near normal over remaining parts of north India.

On January 21, the lowest minimum temperature of 2.8 degree Celsius was reported at Hissar in Haryana.