Cold wave continues in North India. On Friday morning, many states of North India were seen wrapped in a blanket of fog. Visibility reduced significantly due to dense fog spreading from Punjab to Bihar. Because of this, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a red alert for Delhi. A warning has been issued that rail, road and air traffic will be affected due to fog.
IMD officials said that in the pictures received from satellite, dense fog is visible in Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, North Eastern Madhya Pradesh and Bihar.
At 5.30 am, visibility of zero meters was recorded in Bareilly, Saharanpur, Agra and Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh, Amritsar, Bathinda, Ambala, Ludhiana and Adampur in Punjab, Ambala in Haryana, Safdarjung in Delhi, Bhagalpur in Bihar, Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh and Daltonganj in Jharkhand. The Meteorological Department issued a red alert for Delhi and warned that operations at some airports may be disrupted due to fog. Fog can also affect highways and railway routes.
There itself, on friday, Delhi-NCR The Air Quality Index (AQI) also remained in the ‘very poor’ category, which was recorded at around 382. Officials believe that the AQI will remain in the ‘very poor’ category till Saturday and may deteriorate to ‘severe’ category on Sunday.
Orange alert issued for many districts of UP
The Meteorological Department has issued an orange alert for many districts of UP. The districts where orange alert has been issued include Aligarh, Baghpat, Bareilly, Bijnor, Agra, Mathura, Meerut, Moradabad, Muzaffarnagar, Bulandshahr, Etah, Firozabad, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Hathras, Pilibhit, Rampur, Etawah, Ghaziabad, Hapur, Saharanpur, Shahjahanpur and Shamli.
Orange alert has also been issued in Udham Singh Nagar and Haridwar in Uttarakhand, Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Patiala, Fatehgarh Sahib and Sangrur in Punjab.
The Meteorological Department has also expressed apprehension about difficulty in driving and increase in road accidents. Also, the Meteorological Department said that there is a possibility of power failure in the affected areas.
Meteorological Department issued advisory
The Meteorological Department has asked the residents of the affected areas to be alert and take precautions. The Meteorological Department has appealed to be cautious while driving or traveling by any type of transport. The Meteorological Department said to use fog lights while driving. It has been advised to check road and traffic conditions, keep in touch with airlines, railways and state transport authorities for travel schedules and avoid unnecessary travel.
The Meteorological Department says that very dense fog occurs when the visibility is between zero to 50 meters, between 51 to 200 meters is called dense and between 201 to 500 meters is called moderate fog, while visibility between 501 to 1,000 meters is called light fog.
Airlines affected due to fog
On the other hand, flight operations in Delhi were once again affected on Friday as dense fog blanketed the National Capital Region (NCR), significantly affecting visibility. Delhi Airport said in a statement that many flights were delayed and disrupted due to dense fog, and passengers were advised to contact their respective airlines for real-time updates.
“Rest assured, our on-ground officers are present at all terminals to assist passengers and provide necessary support. We apologize for any inconvenience,” the statement said.
Apart from this, IndiGo also issued an advisory for its passengers and said that its teams are monitoring the situation and coordinating with air traffic authorities. “Where possible, we are making operational changes to minimize disruption and ensure customer support continues to be available across all key touchpoints,” it said.
Last night, Air India also issued a similar advisory and said it had taken some pre-emptive measures to mitigate the disruption. Air India said that ground staff will be available round the clock to assist passengers. Meanwhile, SpiceJet has asked passengers to keep checking the status of their flights.
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