Fog delays over 40 flights departing from New
Delhi
New
Delhi: Over
40 flights departing from New Delhi were delayed this
morning by over two hours due to a thick fog which covered
the Indira Gandhi International Airport, reducing the
visibility to a mere 50 metres. The situation was totally
unexpected as the fog started settling down suddenly at
7 a.m. after a clear morning. The flights, which were
scheduled to take off at 7:30 a.m., were the worst affected
as the passengers had boarded and the doors were closed
when the fog descended. More than 80 flights taking off
and landing came to a standstill while four SpiceJet flights
from Mumbai, Kolkota, Ahmedabad and Pune, scheduled to
arrive here at 7:45 am were diverted to Jaipur. The situation
became all the more severe when a huge number of flights
accumulated at the airport. However, early morning flights
operated smoothly as the visibility was 1,500 metres and
general visibility was 100 metres around 6:30 am. Fog
has been affecting innumerable flights with over 1000
flights getting delayed and around 150 cancelled since
December 29 last year.
A
thick fog enveloped New Delhi this morning, taking many
by surprise. Traditionally, the national capital plays
host to cold winters with temperatures dropping to around
3-4 degree Celsius. But this season, cold weather conditions
decided to desert the region for a major part. Residents
said that there was no fog in the early morning hours
but by 8 am suddenly fog emerged and the visibility levels
dropped slowing down the pace of traffic. "We are facing
problems due to the foggy conditions. For the past two
days, the weather was nice but today again there is fog.
We can't see anything ahead on the road and we can't drive,"
said Suresh Kumar, a resident. As traffic moved at a slow
pace, many got late for the work. Several flights were
either delayed or diverted to other cities due to poor
visibility.
-Jan
29, 2009
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