MAJOR DISRUPTION DUE TO FOG IN DELHI

MAJOR DISRUPTION DUE TO FOG IN DELHI

Flight operations at Indira Gandhi International Airport here on Monday,2^nd January,2012, were conducted without any major disruption due to fog. Only two flights were cancelled and 11 delayed on account of adverse weather. Though the visibility remained normal for most part of the day, fog made sudden appearance around 7-30 a.m. forcing airport authorities to put in place low visibility procedure at runway 29/11 for more than two hours from 8 a.m. to 10-35 a.m. A total of 58 flights were operated under the low visibility procedure. Operational reasons forced another six cancellations and eight delays. Besides, nine flights were diverted between 11-30 a.m. and 11-42 a.m. The Meteorological Department has forecast the visibility might fall below 200 metres late at night and further reduce to just 50 m in the early hours of Tuesday.

Northern Railway cancelled 28 trains and partially cancelled a dozen due to fog. Besides, six were rescheduled and 23 were running late for more than an hour. Meanwhile, dense fog enveloped the Capital on Monday evening, reducing visibility to a few hundred metres. According to Indian Meteorological Department Director B. P. Yadav, the foggy conditions were due to concentration of moisture in the air because of rain on New Year's Day. Delhiites woke up to a warmer but cloudy morning on Monday. “Foggy conditions will continue on Tuesday and Wednesday,” he added. While the maximum temperature was at 19.7 degrees Celsius, the minimum was 11.6 degrees Celsius, five degrees above normal for this time of the year

                                                                     Prof. John Kurakar