On Wednesday, the residents of Delhi experienced another morning of thick fog and extremely cold weather. This adverse weather condition had a significant impact on both flight and rail operations, causing inconvenience to thousands of passengers who had to wait for hours at the airport and railway stations. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) reported that a dense layer of fog had covered various parts of the national capital, as well as Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, East Rajasthan, Bihar, West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh, and Assam.
The foggy conditions severely affected visibility in the region, leading to the delay and cancellation of flights from Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA).
According to the Flight Information Display System (FIDS) at the airport, a total of 53 flights were cancelled. These included 21 domestic arrivals, 16 domestic departures, 13 international departures, and 3 international arrivals. Additionally, approximately 120 flights were delayed due to poor visibility caused by dense fog. This information was reported by the news agency ANI. As a result of these disruptions, passengers at the airport were experiencing difficulties due to the long delays and cancellations of flights.
One passenger shared his experience with the news agency, stating that his flight was delayed for more than two hours due to the bad weather. However, he acknowledged that no one could be blamed for the situation and that there was nothing that could be done about it.
In addition to the airport disruptions, several passengers found themselves stranded at New Delhi Railway Station. This was because around 20 trains bound for Delhi, including the Puri-Nizamuddin Purushottam Express and Azamgarh-Delhi Junction Kaifiyat Express, were running late due to the dense fog and coldwave conditions that had enveloped the national capital.
The temperature in Delhi had dropped to a minimum of 4 degrees Celsius on Wednesday and 3.5 degrees Celsius on Tuesday. On Monday, it reached a season’s low of 3.3 degrees Celsius. The cold waves and fog are expected to persist over the next few days, as the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an orange alert for Delhi on Wednesday.
IMD scientist Soma Sen has made predictions regarding the weather conditions in the plains for the next few days. She anticipates that foggy mornings, cold days, and cold wave conditions will persist. Although there may be a slight increase of one degree in the minimum temperature due to sunny skies, the overall cold intensity will gradually decrease, which is a normal seasonal effect. These predictions were shared with ANI.
In other news, the air quality in the national capital was recorded as “severe” on Wednesday, with an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 405 in the Anand Vihar area, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). To combat the pollution levels, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) implemented Stage 3 measures under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) on Sunday.
Furthermore, on Monday, several cities including Sri Ganganagar in Rajasthan, Patiala, Ambala, Chandigarh, Palam, Safdarjung (New Delhi), Bareilly, Lucknow, Bahraich, Varanasi, Prayagraj, and Tezpur experienced zero visibility for the first time this winter season, as reported by the weather department.