Dense fog cripples Delhi: Flights, trains delayed amidst severe weather | Quick Digest
Dense fog has severely disrupted transportation in and around Delhi, leading to widespread flight cancellations and delays at Indira Gandhi International Airport. Rail services are also significantly impacted, causing extensive passenger inconvenience. The severe weather conditions, characterized by near-zero visibility, are a recurring issue during winter months in North India.
Dense fog caused over 120 flight cancellations and nearly 200 delays.
Rail services across North India experienced significant disruptions.
Visibility dropped to critically low levels, impacting airport operations.
The severe weather is a recurring problem during winter in North India.
Dense fog has caused widespread paralysis of transportation services in and around Delhi, leading to significant disruptions at Indira Gandhi International Airport. According to recent reports, over 120 flights were cancelled, nearly 200 were delayed, and several were diverted due to the severe visibility issues. This has left thousands of passengers stranded and facing considerable inconvenience. The fog has also severely impacted rail services across North India, with trains running hours behind schedule. Visibility levels dropped to critically low points, in some cases near zero, forcing airport operations to continue under advanced CAT III low-visibility procedures. This severe weather phenomenon is not an isolated incident, with dense fog being a recurring challenge during the winter months in North India, particularly in the Delhi-NCR region. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued alerts, including orange and red alerts, for dense to very dense fog across various parts of North India, warning of potential disruptions to air, rail, and road traffic. The combination of meteorological factors such as low temperatures, high humidity, and weak winds, along with air pollution, exacerbates these fog conditions, creating hazardous situations. Authorities have been deploying passenger assistance teams and issuing advisories to airlines and passengers to manage the disruptions and ensure traveler safety. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has designated the period from December to February as the official fog season, during which such disruptions are more frequent. The article highlights the cascading effect of these delays, leading to congestion and further inconvenience for passengers. The severity of the fog has also been linked to air quality concerns, with Delhi's Air Quality Index (AQI) often reaching severe or hazardous levels during such periods, indicating a dual environmental crisis.
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