267 trains cancelled, 91 delayed amid thick fog engulfs many parts of country
New Delhi, January 9: Over 300 trains were cancelled or lost punctuality on Monday amid low visibility due to dense fog across several parts of Northern India.
According to the Ministry of Railways, 267 trains were cancelled on Monday, with 128 of them being cancelled because of the weather. In addition, 170 trains were late today, with 91 of them being delayed.
Meanwhile, around 118 domestic flights from the national capital's Indira Gandhi International Airport have been delayed due to bad weather and other issues, an airport official said on Monday.
Around 32 domestic arrivals have also been delayed, according to the official.
"Due to low visibility, three flights diverted to Jaipur- Air India Express from Sharjah to Delhi, Spicejet flight from Ahmedabad to Delhi and SpiceJet flight from Pune to Delhi," the Delhi airport official said. The official further informed about the diversion of a flight of Air India Express from Sharjah to Delhi to Jaipur because of the reduced visibility at the IGI Airport.
A layer of fog extended from Punjab and adjoining northwest Rajasthan to Bihar, across Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, and Uttar Pradesh, according to satellite imagery and available visibility data from the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
"Visibility recorded at 5:30 am today in Bhatinda-0 metres, Amritsar-25 and Ambala-25 metres each, Hissar-50 metres, Delhi (Safdarjung)-25 metres, Delhi (Palam)-50 metres; Uttar Pradesh: Agra-0 metre, Lucknow (Amausi)-0 metres, Varanasi (Babatpur)-25 metres, Bareilly-50 metres," IMD said.
According to the India Meteorological Department, dense to very dense fog was observed in many places across Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and isolated pockets across northwest Rajasthan, with visibility ranging from 0 to 200 metres in many areas.
It has also been stated that due to the continuation of prevailing light winds and high moisture near the surface over the Indo-Gangetic plains, dense to very dense fog is likely to persist in some areas during the night and morning hours over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, and adjoining north Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh over the next 24 hours, with dense fog persisting in isolated pockets for the next two days over the region.
During the next 2-3 days, dense fog is expected in isolated pockets over Jammu Division, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, north Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Sub-Himalayan West Bengal & Sikkim, Assam & Meghalaya, and Mizoram & Tripura.
- ANI
