Dense fog in India hits flight operations, train services

New Delhi, Dec 30 (PTI) At least 82 flights, including 26
of international carriers, were today delayed and 10 others
cancelled while 50 Delhi-bound trains were running late as the
worst fog spell in the last two years hit the Indian capital.

Most of the morning flights could not take off from Delhi
as general visibility fell below 50 metres and runway
visibility range (RVR) was fluctuating between 75 m and 125 m,
which are below the 150m RVR required for an aircraft to take
off, sources at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI)
said.

Director in-charge of the Met department at IGI airport,
R K Jenamani said, "It is the worst fog spell in the last two
years since 2006 when similar conditions were experienced from
December 31 night to Jan 2 where the RVR dipped below 125 m."

Since the wind is calm and moisture is high, the fog
condition will not improve significantly tonight, he said. The
fog will redevelop at around 3 am and continue till tomorrow
morning, he said.

The minimum temperature in the capital slipped to eight
degrees Celsius from Monday's minimum of 8.4 degrees, the
Met department said. Monday's maximum temperature was
recorded at 20.8 degree Celsius, one degree less than the
normal at this point of the season.

Northern Railway officials said that while incoming trains
were delayed by up to six hours, efforts were on to ensure
that no train originating from Delhi is cancelled. Minimum
rescheduling will be done, they said.

No international flights could take off from 1.30 am when
the visibility began to fall till 6 am. Flight operations
began resuming from 10.30 am when the visibility improved.

Only one international and two domestic flights took off
between 6 am to 10 am (IST), the sources said, adding that
three international and nine domestic flights, however, landed
using the sophisticated CAT-III A/B landing system. The last
international flight arrived here at 7.30 am.

Delay in departure is causing a huge backlog at the airport
throwing the flights schedule haywire and causing
inconvenience to the passengers, who complained of airlines
not informing them about the change of schedules as also
non-functioning of toilets and lack of other amenities.

Over 200 flights were delayed and 19 cancelled as a heavy
blanket of fog surrounded the capital Monday.

Meanwhile, railway officials said some of the trains
delayed include Avad Assam, Kafiyat Express, Rajindernagar
Rajdhani, Howrah Rajdhani, Magadh Express, Kashi Vishwanath,
Lucknow Mail, North East Express, Jansadharan, Sampoorna
Kranti and Furakka Express.

Other late arriving trains are Rajdhanis from Seldah and
Bhubaneswar. The Shramjeevi Express from Rajgir was running
late by more than five hours and the Shivganga Express from
Varanasi and Jansadharan Express from Rajendra Nagar (Patna)
were running late by more than three hours.

The Northeast Express from Guwahati was running 18 hours
behind schedule. Similarly, the Kasi Viswanath Express from
Varanasi was running 10 hours behind schedule, they said.

On Monday, the fog had let to disruption in the
movement of around 90 trains, while the departure of 15 trains
were rescheduled. PTI SMJ
SAK