People in northern parts of India have been waking up to dense fog for the last two days, leading to several challenges due to reduced visibility. Satellite images shared by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) show a thick layer of fog engulfed states in northern India including Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana and Punjab and it will continue to follow for the next four to five days.
The sudden spell of fog spreading across the Indo-Gangetic plains caused a series of challenges such as deteriorating Delhi's air quality index (AQI), number of road accidents and several flights and trains getting delayed.
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Incidents that took place amid challenged due to dense fog:
- The IMD observatory at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport recorded visibility between 150 and 200 metres and it led to several flights getting delayed till 4 am. Similarly, two Uttar Pradesh-bound flights and six others ran behind schedule due to low visibility.
- Delhi's AQI reduced to ‘severe’ from the earlier ‘very poor’ category as the air pollutants combined with moisture to further reduce visibility. The index was recorded at 409 on Monday as compared with 353 on Sunday.
- Around 12 people died and 42 injured in separate road accidents across Uttar Pradesh. A bus driver in Auraiya and two passengers were killed when the bus rammed into a truck on the Agra-Lucknow Expressway. In a different incident on the same highway, a state government-run bus overturned in Kanpur, injuring 18 people. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath appealed to the people to follow traffic rules.
- Around 16 people were injured due to multi-vehicle collisions in four different incidents in Haryana's Yamunanagar. Over 30 vehicles, including two state-run busses were damaged.
- Ludhiana experienced low air quality as AQI reached the 251 mark. The fog turns into smog when it mixes with air pollutants, giving rise to further reduction in visibility.
Incidents that took place amid challenged due to dense fog:
- The IMD observatory at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport recorded visibility between 150 and 200 metres and it led to several flights getting delayed till 4 am. Similarly, two Uttar Pradesh-bound flights and six others ran behind schedule due to low visibility.
- Delhi's AQI reduced to ‘severe’ from the earlier ‘very poor’ category as the air pollutants combined with moisture to further reduce visibility. The index was recorded at 409 on Monday as compared with 353 on Sunday.
- Around 12 people died and 42 injured in separate road accidents across Uttar Pradesh. A bus driver in Auraiya and two passengers were killed when the bus rammed into a truck on the Agra-Lucknow Expressway. In a different incident on the same highway, a state government-run bus overturned in Kanpur, injuring 18 people. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath appealed to the people to follow traffic rules.
- Around 16 people were injured due to multi-vehicle collisions in four different incidents in Haryana's Yamunanagar. Over 30 vehicles, including two state-run busses were damaged.
- Ludhiana experienced low air quality as AQI reached the 251 mark. The fog turns into smog when it mixes with air pollutants, giving rise to further reduction in visibility.