Cold,
fog grip North: No flights
New
Delhi/Chandigarh: A cold wave swept through North
India on Saturday with temperatures plummeting and fog
disrupting transport in New Delhi, Chandigarh and elsewhere.
New Delhi was gripped by dipping temperatures coupled
with dense fog, making life difficult for people. The
minimum temperature fell to 4 degrees Celsius on Friday,
one of the coldest winter mornings of the season. Mukhesh
Kumar Dixit, a rickshaw puller, who woke up at around
5:00 in the morning, was unable to bear the winter chill.
He said his hands were freezing and that he would not
be able to work in such weather. "It's very cold, I don't
know what to do. I cannot even work and my hands are freezing,
I don't know how I will earn my bread and butter," said
Dixit. A thick fog has enveloped the entire city and people
are huddled around small fires lighted around street corners
to warm themselves.
Flights
and trains were delayed or cancelled on the third day
of the New Year also. "Flight is delayed due to foggy
conditions here. We are waiting for the flight to Goa,"
said Anant Kumar Sharma, an air passenger. Thirty-one
domestic and international flights were delayed and 19
were cancelled and three diverted to Mumbai. About 19
early morning flights for Chennai, Mumbai, Hyderabad,
Jaipur, Thiruvananthapuram, Bikaner, Ludhiana, Udaipur,
Rajkot and Ahmedabad were cancelled as the general visibility
dropped to below 50 metres and the runaway visibility
range dipped to 100 metres in the wee hours, airport sources
said. Some of the international flights, which generally
operate during the night from New Delhi, also got delayed
due to the fog. Three international flights were diverted
to Mumbai. About 13 flights, mostly of Air India and Indigo,
took off for their destinations in CAT-IIIB conditions.
The General Visibility dipped below normal resulting in
the cancellation of early morning flights to Chennai,
Mumbai, Hyderabad, Jaipur and Kochi. Visibility dropped
to below 50 metres, while runaway visibility dipped to
around 100 metres. The minimum visibility requirement
for aircrafts to take off is 150 metres. No plane landed
or took off this morning. So far, around 75 flights have
been cancelled, while more than 500 have been delayed.
The fog has been affecting New Delhi's flight movements
since Monday.
The
traffic on the roads was also thin during morning hours
as the general visibility dropped. Vehicles moved at a
slow pace. Temperature has plummeted in almost entire
north India. The Meteorological Department has predicted
that the cold wave conditions are likely to persist for
the next couple of days.
In
Chandigarh, residents were seen enjoying the winter chill
and the foggy weather. Many went out for a morning walk
or a jog. Others were seen exercising and doing yoga in
the fog. "I enjoy this season too much. I feel once in
a year we get this sort of fog," said Kuldip Singh, a
resident. North India usually witnesses early morning
fog every winter when night temperatures often dip below
five degrees Celsius.
-Jan
3, 2009
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