Over the past three days, Delhi, the national capital of India, has been gripped by severe cold, recording the lowest minimum temperature of the winter season on Sunday. The city has been blanketed by dense fog, causing significant disruptions at Indira Gandhi International Airport. The thick fog led to low visibility, resulting in the diversion of around 10 flights and delays for over 100 others on Sunday.
According to officials cited by news agency PTI, the visibility at the airport was nearly zero between 4 am and 10 am on Sunday, a critical period during which no flight departures took place, and only 15 arrivals occurred. Under normal weather conditions, the airport typically manages approximately 60 departures and arrivals per hour.
The disruptions were exacerbated by the fact that pilots on some flights were not trained for CAT III landings, contributing to 10 diversions. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) noted that this season’s dense fog in Delhi was the longest duration experienced so far.
Various airlines were affected by the adverse weather conditions. IndiGo Airlines issued an official statement acknowledging the impact on their flight operations, expressing regret for the inconvenience caused to passengers. Air India also faced challenges, with one of its affected flights to Vancouver, AI 185, experiencing rescheduling due to dense fog. Passengers on the flight had prolonged waiting times before the decision to reschedule the departure to comply with flight duty timing requirements.
Vistara and Akasa Air also addressed the impact of dense fog on their operations, warning of potential disruptions in arrivals and departures from Delhi. Akasa Air specifically highlighted flight cancellations in Varanasi due to fog.
As bone-chilling temperatures persist in the region, the weather department has issued an alert, predicting that dense fog is likely to endure in isolated pockets of northwest India for the next three to four days. The IMD urged caution for travelers on highways, emphasizing the need to drive carefully with fog lights and recommending halting journeys until fog conditions improve, especially on expressways. The situation is particularly severe in cities like Amritsar, Chandigarh, Patiala, Ambala, Ganganagar, Palam, Safdarjung, and Lucknow, where very dense fog with zero visibility has been reported.
(Inputs from agencies)
Users Today : 4
Users Yesterday : 8