Dense fog affects life in North India; trains delayed, 1 killed in road accident

Dense to very dense fog engulfed the Indo-Gangetic plains, including Delhi, for the second morning on the trot on Tuesday (December 20), lowering visibility to 25 metres in the national capital and affecting traffic movement.

Satellite images showed a thick layer of fog over Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, north Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

Visibility down

Visibility dropped to 25 metres at the Palam airport and 50 metres at the Safdarjung airport, an IMD official said.

“Due to moisture and light winds at lower tropospheric levels over Indo-Gangetic plains, dense to very dense fog in many/some pockets very likely over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh in night/morning hours during the next three days and dense fog in isolated pockets for subsequent two days,” the Met office had said in a statement on Monday.

Also read: IMD predicts dense fog over north-west India for next 5 days

According to the IMD, very dense fog is when visibility is between 0 and 50 metres and dense when it is between 51 and 200 metres.

I killed in road accident

In a fog-related accident on Tuesday morning, one person died and 14 others were injured when a bus with 60 passengers overturned on the Delhi-Jhansi expressway. It collided with a container that had stopped suddenly, reportedly due to dense fog.

The accident occurred near Galgotia University on the Eastern Peripheral Highway between Agra and Noida. Police started a rescue operation soon after the accident. The injured were rushed to a hospital, where one passenger died during treatment.

After the accident, people raised questions about the government’s measures to prevent such incidents. They cited the absence of reflective road signs as one of the reasons for drivers failing to control vehicles in foggy conditions.

The accident occurred one day after there was a traffic jam due to fog on the Eastern Peripheral Expressway that left several people injured.

Delhi Airport’s action plan

The dense fog has prompted the airport authorities to launch a low visibility action plan. The Delhi Airport in a tweet earlier on Tuesday morning cautioned passengers while assuring them that flight operations had not yet been affected.

“Low Visibility Procedures are in progress at Delhi Airport. All flight operations are presently normal. Passengers are requested to contact the airline concerned for updated flight information,” the tweet read.

While flights are yet not affected, 11 trains were reported running late by one to five hours on Tuesday morning due to fog.

Skymet Weather’s Mahesh Palawat updated the public on low visibility and urged travelers to check if their flights have been cancelled due to fog before leaving.

The Met office had on Monday (December 19) forecast that the Indo-Gangetic plains may see “dense to very dense” fog over the next five days, which may result in the cancellation and diversion of trains and flights.

“There are likely to be train delays, diversions, and cancellations. Airport operations are also likely to be affected by flight delays and cancellations,” the Met office had said.

Also read: Delhi witnesses first spell of dense fog; IMD issues alert for next 5 days

IMD advisory

The IMD also issued an advisory saying that difficult driving conditions on highways, some collisions, and tripping of power lines were possible.

The weather department said long exposure to fog can cause wheezing, coughing and shortness of breath in people having asthma bronchitis. It could also lead to eye irritation or infection.

It suggested that travellers carry essential items like water and medicine on long journeys.

(With Agency inputs)