As North India continues to reel under fog-accompanied cold wave, at least 23 Delhi-bound trains were delayed by up to six hours on Friday owing to the weather-related conditions in the national capital. As per the Northern Railways, three trains are running late by more than six hours, namely Ajmer-Katra Pooja Express, Katihar-Amritsar Express, and Khajarao-Kurukshetra Express.
Two trains including Kamakhya-Delhi Jn Brahmaputra Mail and Jammutawi-Ajmer Pooja Express are likely to arrive late by around 5.30 hours while as many as six trains are expected to arrive late by around four hours, the railway officials said.
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Nine trains late by 2-2.15 hours
The officials further stated that as many as nine trains are running late by around 2-2.15 hours including Varanasi-New Delhi Vande Bharat Express, Banglore-New Delhi Rajdhani Express, Lucknow-New Delhi Tejas Express, Prayagraj-New Delhi Express, Bhagalpur-Anandvihar Express, Ambedkarnagar-Katra Express, Vasco-Nizamuddin Express, Chennai-New Delhi Express, and Manikpur-Nizamuddin Express.
Delhi airport area battling zero visibility
Meanwhile, parts of the national capital and its surrounding areas were covered in a thick blanket of fog as temperature dipped to 5.4 degrees Celsius on Friday morning. Due to the fog cover, the visibility levels in Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport area reduced to zero on Friday morning.
The adverse conditions, however, did not have any major impact on flight operations. Delhi airport authorities however issued an advisory urging passengers to contact their concerned airline for flight information before leaving for the airport. "Low Visibility Procedures are in progress at Delhi Airport. All flight operations are presently normal. Passengers are requested to contact the airline concerned for updated flight information," authorities said.
It should be noted here that the CAT III or Category III -- an instrument landing system (ILS) that allows aircraft to land in low visibility conditions, operations for takeoffs and landings are necessitated when very dense fog causes poor or zero visibility.
North India continues to reel under cold wave
Notably, the cold wave continued its grip over North India with dense fog shrouding major cities, including Delhi, reducing visibility and impacting air and train travel. Delhi shivered with overall temperature recorded at 8.8-degree Celsius temperature on Thursday as fog engulfed the city. Palam Observatory, reported a visibility level of 100 metres at 5:30 am which improved to 500 metres by 7 am due to surface winds. According to the India Meteorological Department, cold to severe cold conditions are likely to continue over Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan for the next one week and a significant decrease thereafter.
(With ANI inputs)
