Fog disrupts transportation in North India, cold wave to continue
Over the past two weeks, thick fog has blanketed parts of north and northeast India, causing major disruptions to road, rail, and air travel. Visibility has dropped to zero meters in some areas. Dense fog has affected Punjab, Haryana, west Rajasthan, Bihar, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha, and Assam. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) anticipates that these conditions will persist for another five days.
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Much of North India has been blanketed by a cold wave and thick fog since last month. This resulted in severe disruption of flight operations at the Delhi airport. Though fog thinned on Wednesday, IMD has predicted dense to very dense fog over the North India for the next two days. Cold wave is expected to continue over parts of the Indo-Gangetic plains. Maximum temperature in Delhi is expected to remain 18 degrees while the lowest will hit 5 degrees.
Rail traffic affected as visibility drops
Indian Railways has reported that 18 trains arriving in Delhi experienced delays of up to six hours, amid the fog. At 5:30 am, visibility was recorded at just 25 meters in cities such as Patiala, Amritsar, Ambala, Hisar, Bikaner, and Purnia, while Churu, Ganganagar, Jhansi, Ranchi, Paradip, and Lakhimpur saw visibility levels of 50 meters. Near Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, the Palam Observatory noted visibility at a mere 50 meters, which improved to 350 meters by 8:30 am.
Here's IMD prediction for the coming days
Cold wave to continue for next 5 days
The IMD predicts that cold wave to severe cold wave conditions will affect north and northwest India over the next five days. In the plains, a cold wave is declared when the minimum temperature falls to 4 degrees Celsius or when it is 10 degrees or below and four-and-a-half notches below normal. A severe cold wave occurs when the minimum temperature drops to 2 degrees Celsius or the departure from normal is more than 6.4 degrees.
Punjab and Haryana battle harsh winters
Meanwhile, cold wave conditions continued in Punjab and Haryana, with minimum temperatures staying below normal levels in most parts of both states. Ballowal Saunkhri in Punjab's Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar district recorded zero degrees celsius. Other cities like Amritsar recorded a low of 2 degrees Celsius. Ludhiana and Patiala experienced cold wave conditions at 2.8 and 4.5 degrees Celsius. Similar conditions prevailed in Haryana where Karnal was reported to be the coldest place with mercury dipping to 3.4 degrees Celsius.
