Thick fog disrupts normal life in Gurgaon

Low visibility caused by thick envelope of fog compounded the routine early-morning traffic congestion on Gurgaon roads on Tuesday morning.

Low visibility caused by thick envelope of fog compounded the routine early-morning traffic congestion on Gurgaon roads on Tuesday morning.

The fog started to descend upon the city around on Monday midnight, it started engulfing the city wee hours on Tuesday and became dense, reducing the visibility to near zero. (Abhinav Saha/ HT Photo)

Commuters faced difficulties while travelling on almost all city roads due to poor visibility that continued till 10:30 am.

Residents felt the chill even as there was no major dip in mercury.

On Tuesday, Gurgaon, recorded minimum temperature of 7.1 degree Celsius-which is normal whereas the minimum temperature observed on Monday was 9.8 degree Celsius, according to the Met department.

Weatherman said that the reason for abrupt change in weather was the western disturbances that winters over north-western plains. The disturbances have been on back foot this year, maintained the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD).

“Dry and cold northwester winds had been blowing over northwestern plains. Under its influence, the region is witnessing cold chilly wind. The day will see clear sky,” an IMD official said.

The fog started to descend upon the city around on Monday midnight, it started engulfing the city wee hours on Tuesday and became dense, reducing the visibility to near zero.

Because of heavy fog, the city witnessed traffic snarls at most of the crossings including the busy ones like Iffco Chowk, Signature Tower, Huda city centre and the old Delhi-Gurgaon road.

Neha Sharma, a daily commuter, said it took her 45 minutes to reach her office in Sector 32. She maintained that it was because of slow moving traffic which was affected by the dense fog. “Commuting on the Gurgaon-Expressway was not easy today. The traffic was moving on a snail pace to avoid any untoward incidents.”

Also, many commutes were of opinion that after the end of odd-even policy, the number of cars on the roads has increased.

“Since the odd-even policy is over, the traffic jam are back in the city,” said Shruti Khanna, a resident of Delhi. Many trains operating through Gurgaon railway station of Northern Railway were running behind the schedule.

“Most of the trains passing through the Northern Railway division including Gurgaon are running late by several hours,” said Neeraj Sharma, a Northern Railway spokesperson.