As a cold wave tightens its grip on northern India, Delhi residents woke up to a hazy morning on Wednesday. Thick fog blanketed the city, causing low visibility and traffic disruptions, resulting in delays for commuters.
Morning visuals from Delhi’s Dhaula Kuan, India Gate, Barapullah, and the Delhi-Noida border area revealed dense fog cover. Some trains arriving and departing from New Delhi faced delays due to fog and low visibility.
Delhi Airport experienced delays affecting approximately 110 flights, including both domestic and international arrivals and departures, due to dense fog. As of 8:30 AM on Wednesday morning, 28 international departure flights, 15 international arrival flights, 42 domestic departure flights, and 25 domestic arrival flights were affected. The Delhi Airport Authority issued an advisory, stating that while landings and takeoffs continue, flights not compliant with CAT III (Category III) standards may face disruptions.
The Indian Meteorological Department said dense fog persists over parts of northwest India and adjoining central India, including Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, north Rajasthan, and north Madhya Pradesh. A layer of dense fog is also seen over parts of Jammu & Kashmir.
The IMD has forecast dense to very dense fog in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh over the next three days, as well as over isolated pockets of north Rajasthan and north Madhya Pradesh on December 27. Visibility recorded at 5:30 AM today was extremely low in various locations, such as Amritsar (airport)-0, Patiala-25, Srinagar-25, Bareilly-25, Lucknow-25, Paryagraj-25, Varanasi-50, Jhansi-200, Ganganagar-50, Kota-500, Delhi-Safdarjung-50, and Delhi (Palam)-125.
The IMD also warned of potential health impacts on people due to the dense fog in the national capital, stating that it contains particulate matter and pollutants that, when exposed, can lodge in the lungs, leading to wheezing, coughing, and shortness of breath.
(with inputs from ANI)