Delhi sees season’s longest fog spell; rail, air traffic hit

New Delhi: Delhi saw cold wave conditions for the fifth consecutive day on Monday and the season’s longest fog spell which crippled road, rail and air traffic movement. India Meteorological Department officials said the Palam observatory, near the IGI Airport, recorded visibility levels below 1,000 metres from 8.30 pm on Sunday to 4.30 pm on Monday.

The visibility levels reduced to 50 metres at Palam and 25 metres at the Safdarjung observatory and the Ridge weather station early in the morning, an official of the IMD said.

A total of 267 trains were delayed due to bad weather, a railway official said. Five flights were diverted and 30 delayed due to the foggy conditions, officials at the IGI Airport said.

Satellite images showed a fog layer extending from Punjab and adjoining northwest Rajasthan to Bihar through Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.

The minimum temperatures in the national capital rose marginally though.

The Safdarjung observatory, Delhi’s primary weather station, recorded a minimum of 3.8 degrees Celsius as against 1.9 degrees on Sunday, which is the lowest in January in two years and the second lowest in the month since 2013.

The weather stations at Lodhi Road, Ayanagar and Ridge recorded a minimum temperature of 3.6 degrees Celsius, 3.2 degrees Celsius and 3.3 degrees Celsius.