Fog on R-Day in Delhi disrupts flights, trains

NEW DELHI - The national capital saw dense fog Tuesday morning that disrupted rail and air services and led to cancellation of the customary flower petal showering from helicopters over Rajpath on Republic Day. The weatherman said the foggy conditions would continue Wednesday as well.

“Visibility fell to less than 100 metres around 6.30 a.m today (Tuesday). The situation improved later in the day,” an official at the India Meteorological Department (IMD) told IANS.

An official at the Indira Gandhi International Airport said around 30 flights were delayed by at least one to two hours. “Some flights were cancelled too,” the official added.

A Northern Railways spokesperson told IANS: By 6.30 p.m. today (Tuesday), 51 trains were running late by more than one hour and 10 trains were cancelled. So far, 29 trains were rescheduled.”

The few motorists on the roads were forced the switch on their lights and drive at snail’s pace.

“I kept my parking lights on throughout my drive from home to office. The visibility was almost zero and everyone on road was driving at a speed less than 10 km per hour,” said Sandesh Kalia, a software engineer who had to go to work.

People may continue to face such problems as the Met Office has forecast another foggy morning Wednesday.

Fog is expected to be there in the morning Wednesday. The maximum and minimum temperatures will hover around 23 and eight degrees Celsius respectively, a meteorological department official added.

The maximum temperature Tuesday was 22.8 degrees Celsius and the minimum was recorded at 9.4 degrees Celsius, both one degree above the average, he added.