Normal life has come to a stand still with heavy fog disrupting road, rail and air traffic in most parts of northern India including the national capital.Passengers flying in and out of Delhi were left stranded with their flights being cancelled, delayed or diverted. According to officials at Indira Gandhi International Airport at least 26 domestic and international flights were cancelled and 23 services, including seven international, diverted. According to latest updates 31 domestic and seven international flights have been delayed.Passengers travelling by train also had a harrowing time with 55 trains of Northern railways running late. Five other trains have been rescheduled while three cancelled. Road traffic has also been adversely affected with vehicles moving at snails pace due to heavy blanket of fog engulfing the city from the evening itself.Delhites are in for cool foggy days ahead with the Met department predicting this phenomenon to continue .The temperature which is already few degrees below normal may fall further with fog to continue those planning to fly out may be delayed as the visibility at the IGI Airport is likely to come down below 50 meters.To avoid inconvenience and delays due to fog Northern Railways has also geared up. It plans to install 500 fog safety devices in trains touching the national capital to alert drivers about signals and railway crossings within a range of upto four kilometers. With latest system in place for taking off of the planes and installation of fog safety devices, it is expected that the rail and air traffic will be safe and smooth in coming days.Moreover Uttarakhand might witness change in weather in the next three four days. Director Met department Anand Sharma, however added there were no signs of rains in the coming twenty four hours. Meanwhile normal life has been affected across the state due to dry cold. Frost and mist condition have been reported from hilly areas, whereas fog has affected the road transport and rail services in plain areas of the state. According to AIR correspondent the dry cold was causing health problems for the people. Prevailing weather has also affected the Rabi crop and was a matter of concern for farmers.
News On AIR | December 27, 2010 9:18 PM
Heavy fog affects normal life in parts of Northern India