Fog affects visibility, rail traffic in parts of north India
The Hindu
Foggy weather disrupts rail traffic and reduces visibility to zero meters in north and northeast India.
A layer of fog lowered visibility to zero metres on Thursday, January 18, 2024, at several places in north and northeast India, affecting rail traffic, officials said.
Satellite imagery showed some reduction in fog over Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh.
However, ‘dense’ to ‘very dense’ fog prevailed in parts of Punjab, Haryana, west Rajasthan, Bihar, Delhi, west Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha and Assam.
A spokesperson for the Indian Railways said 18 trains arriving in Delhi were delayed by up to six hours due to foggy weather.
At 5:30 am, visibility levels stood at 25 metres in Patiala, Amritsar, Ambala, Hisar, Bikaner and Purnia and 50 metres in Churu, Ganganagar, Jhansi, Ranchi, Paradip and Lakhimpur.
At the Palam Observatory near the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport in Delhi, visibility was limited to only 50 metres.
According to the “2023: World Air Quality Report”, India is the third most polluted nation globally and Delhi the most polluted capital city. Though Bengaluru (Rank 673) stands nowhere close to the topmost polluted cities, increasing temperature, irregular rains, growing population and infrastructure are leading to a slow change in the water and air quality of the garden city.