Dense Fog In Delhi Delays 80 Flights, Leaves Train Passengers In The Lurch

A dense layer of fog covered the skyline of North India. Around 80 flights and several trains were delayed in Delhi which left passengers waiting at the airport and railway stations.

The northern region of India, including capital New Delhi, woke up on Saturday to a dense blanket of fog. The visibility was greatly reduced due to the combined effect of the dense fog and the high level of air pollution. Several trains were running behind their schedules due to reduced visibility. Due to low visibility, 80 flights at Delhi's IGI Airport were delayed, according to news agency ANI. The Air Quality Index (AQI) recorded at 8 am in Delhi was 399 ('very poor' category), as per the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune.

The intense cold also forced people to take shelter in night shelter homes. The minimum temperature on Saturday in Delhi is expected to hover around 10 degrees Celsius, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

The Cold and fog conditions in northern India are likely to continue till Sunday and then may start abating. Some regions of northern India are likely to get rain on New Year's Eve. 

Passengers complained of difficulties and inconvenience caused due to delays in flights and trains. A passenger named Deepti who was waiting for her train told ANI, "All the trains have been delayed. The station is so crowded and there is heavy traffic jam outside."

A group of Sikhs told ANI that they were travelling to Gangtok, Sikkim to celebrate New Year but their flight was delayed by 2 hours.

An official at the Delhi Airport earlier told news agency PTI that 58 flights had to be diverted owing to the low visibility between 12:00 am on December 25 and 06:00 am on December 28. Most of the flights had to be cancelled as the pilots were not trained to operate them in low visibility conditions. The official added that 13 flights of IndiGo, 10 of Air India, 10 of SpiceJet, 5 of Vistara, 3 of Akasa Air and 2 flights of Alliance Air were diverted at the Delhi Airport. 

A person going to Mata Vaishno Devi temple said, "I am going to Mata Vaishno Devi and our train is late by more than two hours. Our train was supposed to arrive at 5.30 but it hasn't arrived yet," as reported by ANI.

ANI shared the visuals from Uttar Pradesh's Moradabad where the coldwave intensified.

A thick layer of haze made it almost impossible to see things beyond a certain distance in Rajasthan.

A layer of fog covered Odisha's Sambalpur this morning.

According to the IMD, dense to very dense fog conditions will prevail across North Indian states for the next two days.