Delhi fog: Dense fog shrouds city, drastically reducing visibility; flight operations impacted

Delhi fog update: A cover of dense fog shrouded Delhi in the early hours of Tuesday, reducing visibility drastically. The situation is reported to be the same in the nearby states of Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. 

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said very dense and dense fog conditions were observed in isolated pockets of Punjab, Haryana, northwest Rajasthan, East Uttar Pradesh, and Delhi, Bihar, Odisha respectively. Moderate fog was observed in parts of West Uttar Pradesh. 

Visibility at 5:30 am on Tuesday was reduced to 25 mt in Punjab’s Amritsar and Patiala, Haryana’s Ambala, Rajasthan’s Ganganagar, and UP’s Varanasi. 

Visibility was as low as 50 mt in Delhi’s Palam and Safdarjung, UP’s Gorakhpur, and Bihar’s Purnea. Parts of Delhi such as Janpath Road, Aruna Asaf Ali Mark, Nirankari Colony were under a thick cover of fog on Tuesday. 

The minimum temperature in Delhi is expected to hover around 8 degree Celsius, while the maximum temperature is expected to remain around 22 degree Celsius, as per IMD. 

Haryana’s Hissar, UP’s Bareilly, Lucknow and Sultanpur, Madhya Pradesh’s Gwalior, and Bihar’s Bhagalpur also had reduced visibility of less than 500 mt. 

The Delhi Airport confirmed that flight operations will be affected due to the dense fog conditions. It asked all passengers to contact the airlines for updated information. "While landings and take-offs continue at Delhi Airport, flights that are not CAT III compliant may get affected. passengers are requested to contact the airline concerned for updated information. Any inconvenience caused is deeply regretted,” it said on social media. 

Many trains have also been delayed due to reduced visibility. Mumbai Rajdhani was running late by an hour, while Bangalore Rajdhani was delayed by more than 2 hours. 

Delhi’s air quality was in the ‘very poor’ category with AQI of 328.

Also read: Delhi temperature dips to 4.8 degree Celsius; IMD issues orange alert for dense fog