Flight operations in Delhi and numerous northern Indian cities continue to be hampered by severe fog caused by the cold wave. Several flights at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport were disrupted due to fog, leaving passengers stranded, news agency ANI reported.
Passengers were spotted waiting for their planned flights after some were delayed and cancelled due to fog in various regions of the nation.
"I have come from Dubai. My flight was delayed due to fog," said a passenger at IGI airport.
From 12.30 am until 6.30 am, visibility at Delhi's IGI airport was between 50 and 100 metres due to intense fog, according to PTI. According to the meteorological office, extremely dense fog occurs when visibility ranges from 0 to 50 metres, dense between 51 and 200 metres, moderate between 201 and 500 metres, and shallow between 501 and 1,000 metres.
The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) predicts that dense to very dense fog and cold day to severe cold day conditions will continue to dominate over North India for the next four days. Severe cold wave conditions are expected to prevail over the plains of northwest India for the next four days. Cold wave conditions will persist in Punjab, Haryana, and Chandigarh on January 20 and 21.
Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Punjab are expected to have dense to very dense fog during the next two days. This severe fog is likely to hinder transportation, particularly rail travel, since reduced visibility has caused repeated delays in recent days.