Poor visibility in city disrupts air, train traffic

NEW DELHI: Shallow to dense fog was witnessed in some parts of the city today with Delhi Airport witnessing zero visibility conditions leading to cancellation of nine domestic flights and delaying 19 others.

Rail traffic was also affected as 61 trains were delayed by several hours while 13 were cancelled and seven were rescheduled, according to a spokesperson.

According to a MeT department official, there was zero visibility at Palam at 5.30 AM which subsequently improved to 100 metres by 8.30 AM.

There were better visibility conditions at Safdarjung with 1,000 metres visibility being recorded at 5.30 AM that dropped to 600 metres by 8.30 AM.

The arrival and departure of 19 domestic and international flights was delayed and nine domestic flights were cancelled due to fog and other reasons, according to the Delhi airport website.

A Delhi Airport spokesperson, however maintained that flight operations were normal.

Last week when 362 flights were delayed and 38 flights including 24 departures were also cancelled and three flights diverted during the low visibility period at the airport, DIAL, in its statement, had not mentioned about all the flights in its statement.

It had only mentioned that 24 flights were delayed because of weather and 34 cancelled during low visibility period due to "other reasons". It had also said that no flight was cancelled during the low visibility period.

The city, meanwhile, recorded a low of 10.5 degrees Celsius.

"The minimum temperature was recorded at 10.5 degrees Celsius, two notches above normal and the humidity was recorded at 93 per cent at 8.30 AM," said a MeT department official.

The maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to hover around 25 and 10 degrees Celsius respectively with clear sky expected through the day and moderate fog tomorrow morning.

Yesterday, the city recorded a minimum of 10.5 degrees Celsius, two notches above normal, while the maximum temperature settled at 26.6 degrees Celsius, three notches above the season's average.