Fog grounds all 23 Chandigarh flights, international flights diverted to Delhi
Low visibility due to fog led to the cancellation of all 23 flights on Wednesday at the Chandigarh international airport, causing major inconvenience to around 2,500 passengers. Most airlines sent passengers to Delhi by cabs and Volvo buses. Passengers who arrived for morning flights waited for two hours at the airport, following which some of them went to Delhi by cabs. Passengers for Chandigarh–Srinagar flights either got their flights cancelled or re-scheduled.
Low visibility due to fog led to the cancellation of all 23 flights on Wednesday at the Chandigarh international airport, causing major inconvenience to around 2,500 passengers. Most airlines sent passengers to Delhi by cabs and Volvo buses. Passengers who arrived for morning flights waited for two hours at the airport, following which some of them went to Delhi by cabs. Passengers for Chandigarh–Srinagar flights either got their flights cancelled or re-scheduled.
The Dubai flight of IndiGo Airlines was diverted to Delhi as the flight could not land at the airport due to poor visibility. Around 80 passengers on the flight were taken back to Delhi, where the airline gave them the fare till Chandigarh, asking them to travel on their own.
A spokesperson for the airport Anita said, “None of the flights arrived or departed from the airport due to poor visibility.”
Air India airport manager RK Negi said, “Flights were cancelled due to bad weather. We have sent all our 125 passengers from Chandigarh to Delhi through cabs. Some passengers, who were to go to Mumbai and Bengaluru went to Delhi by cabs, from where they will board connecting flights.”
Hill stations warmer than city due to sunny days: Met
Chandigarh nights are colder than hill-stations like Shimla and Dharamshala, an analysis of the weather department data has shown.
At 9.6 degree Celsius, the night temperature in Chandigarh on Tuesday night was almost 2 degree lower than that recorded in Shimla. In Shimla, the minimum temperature was 11 degrees, five degrees above normal. At Dharamshala, night temperature was 10.4 degree, two degree above normal, again higher than Chandigarh. Weather experts say long sunny days have led to the increase in temperature at hill stations.
Days equally cold
The days were equally cold at Chandigarh. On Wednesday, the maximum temperature was 23.2 degree Celsius in the city and 20 degree Celsius at the Chandigarh airport, three degree below normal. The maximum temperature was 20.3 degree in Shimla.
India Meteorological Department (IMD) director Surender Paul said, “The city has started receiving shallow fog during mornings and evening. During the next 3-4 days, the city will receive dense fog.” “On December 12-13, Western disturbances will approach the city, leading to cloudy weather and light rainfall. After that there will be dense fog in the city.”
The fog was dense at the airport side and outskirts of the city.
Trains also delayed
Shatabdi continued to run late by several hours, leaving passengers harassed. On Wednesday, the New Delhi-Kalka Shatabdi Express (12011) was late by more than two hours. A day before, the same train was also late by more than two hours.
The New Delhi-Kalka Shatabadi Express (12005) was on time. However, its departure from Kalka was delayed by more than one hour. The Chandigarh-New Delhi Shatabdi Express (12046) was also late by more than an hour.
Unchahar Express (14217) that travels from Prayag to Chandigarh was six hours late. The departure of Chandigarh – Dibrugarh was rescheduled four hours and 45 minutes late.
Many trains from Ambala station were delayed more than 20 hours. Kalka Mail (12311), which runs from Howra-Kalka-Howrah was late by 21 hours, Dibrugarh-Chandigarh Express (15903) was late by 10 hours, Lucknow-Chandigarh Super fast express (12231) was late by five hours and Lucknow-Chandigarh Express (15011) was delayed three hours.