The movement of flights and passenger trains to and from the National Capital continued to remain affected on Friday due to dense fog and adverse weather conditions.
Delays plagued departures and cancellations for domestic air travel and added to the woes of the passengers.
At least 22 domestic departures were delayed, while 5 flights were cancelled, impacting thousands of travellers. International travel appeared relatively unaffected. While 17 international flights arrived in India, only 9 international departures took place.
The mercury dipped to 4.7 degrees Celsius in the national capital on Friday, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
As per the IMD, Lodhi Road recorded a minimum temperature of 4.4 degree Celsius, Safdarjung recorded 4.4 degrees Celsius, while the Ayanagar, Ridge and Palam areas of the national capital recorded 4.9, 3.2 and 7.1 degrees Celsius.
According to Northern Railways, around 34 long-distance trains to Delhi were delayed on Friday due to fog and poor visibility conditions.
Train passengers arriving in Delhi on January 26, faced significant delays, with over 34 trains arriving behind schedule. The Puri-New Delhi Purushottam Express topped the list, running a staggering 6 hours and 30 minutes behind schedule. Other notable delays included the Kanpur-New Delhi Shramshakti Express (2 hours 30 minutes late), the Katihar-Amritsar Express (3 hours 45 minutes late), and the Saharsa-New Delhi Vaishali Express (2 hours 30 minutes late).
Rajdhani Express trains were also affected, including the Howrah-New Delhi Rajdhani Express (2 hours 30 minutes late), the Rajendranagar-New Delhi Rajdhani Express (3 hours 30 minutes late), and the Bhubaneshwar-New Delhi Rajdhani Express (6 hours 30 minutes late).
According to the IMD, ‘very dense’ fog is when visibility is between 0 and 50 metres, 51 and 200 metres is ‘dense’, 201 and 500 metres ‘moderate’, and 501 and 1,000 metres ‘are ‘ shallow’.
Noting the cold wave conditions in parts of north India, IMD, said, “Visibility recorded (at 0830 hours IST of today) (<=200 metres): East Uttar Pradesh: Lucknow, Bahraich and Prayagraj-25, Fursatganj-50 Sultanpur-200; Uttarakhand: Pantnagar-25; Haryana, Chandigarh: Ambala-25, Chandigarh & Karnal-50 each, Hissar-200; West Uttar Pradesh: Bareilly25, Jhansi-50, Agra-150; Punjab: Ambala, Ludhiana & Patiala-50 each, Bhatinda-100; north Rajasthan: Churu & Jaipur-50 each, Bikaner-100, Ganganagar-200; Sub-Himalayan West Bengal: Jalpaiguri & Cooch Behar-50 each; Tripura: Agartala-50; Jammu Division,” (ANI)
