Thick fog engulfs Delhi, flight departures put on hold, trains delayed

NEW DELHI: Thick blanket of fog engulfed Delhi and its adjoining areas on Friday, badly affecting the movement of flights and trains in the capital region.

ANI reported that the foggy situation forced the airport authorities to put on hold all departures from Delhi Airport from 5:30 am to 7 am.

All departures from Delhi Airport was on hold from 5:30 am to 7 am today and most of the arrivals also affected due to bad weather; one international flight has been diverted as of now. — ANI (@ANI) January 18, 2019

The bad weather also led to the diversion of one international flight.

10 trains to Delhi running late today due to fog/low visibility. pic.twitter.com/8cC62YvsgF

— ANI (@ANI) January 18, 2019

Indian Railways released a statement on Friday confirming that at least 10 trains to Delhi are running late due to fog and low visibility.

On Thursday too, the temperature remained below normal level in Delhi, making morning cold and gloomy for the people living in the national capital.

The maximum and minimum temperatures were recorded at 21 degree Celsius and 5 degree Celsius, respectively, on Thursday. Rail traffic was badly affected due to thick fog in Delhi. 

On Thursday, 11 trains were rescheduled after they got delayed for around an hour due to fog. Jayanagar- New Delhi S Sainani Express, Ghazipur-Anand Vihar Express, and Poorvottar Sampark Kranti Express were running late by 1.30-hr, 2 hours and one hour respectively.

The low visibility also affected the movement of Bhubaneswar Duronto Express, which got delayed by five hours while Poorva Express and Puri-New Delhi Purushottam Express were delayed by three hours each.

It is likely that fog and chill would continue in Delhi and there are little hopes for an improvement in the quality of air and visibility in the capital. The air quality in Delhi remained poor on Thursday morning as the Air Quality Index (AQI) at Mathura Road was at 346 in the morning with particulate matter (PM) 2.5. 

The AQI at Dhirpur was 297 while in Pitampura area it dipped to `very poor` category at 355. It is to be noted that AQI between the range of 51 and 100 is considered as satisfactory, 101-200 is moderate; 201-300 falls under the category of poor. The AQI in the range of 300-400 is considered as `very poor`, while the range between 401-500 comes under `hazardous category. The AQI near Pusa Road, Airport Terminal 3 and Chandni Chowk was docked at 346, 357 and 342 respectively. 

(With agency inputs)