By IANS,
New Delhi: A thick blanket of fog enveloped the national capital Friday, hitting air and rail services and affecting vehicular movement on the roads once again. Over 174 trains were affected, some by as much as 25 hours, while schedules of 100 flights were disrupted.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the fog brought down the visibility level to less than 100 metres early in the day.
“Rain in the national capital last week left moisture in the air, which is responsible for the fog,” said an IMD official.
Over 100 domestic and international flights were delayed as the runway visibility dropped below 50 meters early Friday. On Thursday about 25 flights were cancelled and over 140 flights disrupted or delayed.
“Runway visibility dropped below 50 metres and the CAT III landing system was activated to facilitate flight operations,” an airport official said.
According to a Northern Railways spokesperson, over 174 trains were affected because of the fog in the capital.
“Forty-one trains were rescheduled because of the fog today. There were 89 trains running late, with some like the UP Sampark Kranti delayed by 25 hours, while 46 were cancelled,” the railways spokesperson said.
Northern Railways has set up a 24 hour helpline for passengers to check the status of trains. The helpline numbers for New Delhi Railway Station are 23342954 and 23341074; for Old Delhi Railway Station 23967332 and 23962389 and for Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway Station 24355964 and 24359748.
The national capital recorded a minimum of 7.4 degrees Celsius, a notch below average for this time of the season while the maximum was two degrees below the average at 18.7 degrees Celsius.
The met office has further predicted another foggy day Saturday. The minimum and the maximum temperatures are expected to hover around nine and 21 degrees Celsius respectively.