NEW DELHI: Flight and rail services in New Delhi, the capital of India, were disrupted on Tuesday morning as a thick layer of fog shrouded the region, reducing visibility to barely 50 metres (164 feet) in some areas.
The city experienced “very dense fog,” according to India’s weather department, with a temperature of just 9 degrees Celsius (48 degrees Fahrenheit). The weather department anticipated “dense to very dense fog” in some areas until Wednesday.
The weather department highlighted that “dense fog” contains particulate matter and other pollutants, raising concerns about its potential impact on the health of New Delhi’s 20 million residents. The air quality index in New Delhi reached 376 on Tuesday morning, categorized as “very poor” by the Central Pollution Control Board, with levels of 0 to 50 considered good.
Around 30 flights, including international routes, at the Delhi airport experienced delays due to the dense fog, as reported by the Indian news agency ANI. Additionally, approximately 14 trains in North India were similarly affected, according to ANI.
ALSO READ: Road-users Asked to Drive Carefully During Foggy Season
The Indira Gandhi International Airport, communicating through the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), assured that landings and takeoffs were ongoing, but flights not compliant with the CAT III navigation system might be affected. CAT III enables aircraft to land in low-visibility conditions.
Airlines such as SpiceJet took to social media to caution passengers about potential disruptions to departures and arrivals in New Delhi due to adverse weather conditions.
Similar weather conditions were reported in other parts of North India, including the states of Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, where temperatures ranged between 6 degrees Celsius and 10 degrees Celsius (43 degrees Fahrenheit to 50 degrees Fahrenheit), according to the weather department.
