Dense fog shrouds Delhi, zero visibility persists for 9 hours
A thick blanket of fog enveloped the national capital on Saturday, causing zero visibility for an unprecedented nine consecutive hours.
The national capital experienced cold day conditions for the fourth consecutive day on Thursday with the minimum temperature recorded at 7.6 degrees Celsius, according to the weather department.
As per the India Meteorological Department, a cold day condition is one where the minimum temperature dips below 10 degrees Celsius and a cold wave when the mercury plummets below 4 degrees Celsius.
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Additionally, the city recorded a ‘Very Poor’ Air Quality Index (AQI) with a reading of 318, as per the daily AQI bulletin of Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
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Dense fog and cold day conditions are likely to continue over parts of Northwest and Central India during the next 24 hours and improve thereafter, the India Meteorological Department added.
Moreover, the Cold Day Conditions were observed at isolated places over Punjab, Haryana-Chandigarh-Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, IMD elaborated.
In the wake of the fog, the minimum visibility at Palam Airport reduced to ‘zero’ meters at 6 am. However, no flight delay was reported as most of them are CAT III compliant. CAT III is an approach system that allows flights to land safely during poor visibility conditions and ensures operational functionality for compliant flights.
As per a railway official, at least 43 trains were running behind their scheduled time due to the poor visibility in the morning. These include Rajdhani class, Humsafar, Superfast and mail, express category trains.
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