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No respite from fog for northern states, 5 killed in road accidents
Dense fog continues to disrupt flight and train services in northern India, with visibility reduced to less than 30 metres in some areas. The India Meteorological Department has predicted no significant relief until 31 December. Five people have died in separate accidents in Uttar Pradesh due to the fog. The dense fog is expected to persist for the next three days, with light to moderate rainfall predicted for the region. Flight and train services have been affected at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport and New Delhi Railway Station.
A dense layer of fog enveloped the northern plains for a third consecutive day on Thursday, severely reducing visibility and disrupting flight and train services, as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicted no significant relief for Delhi, Haryana and Chandigarh till December 31.
Five people were killed in separate accidents in Uttar Pradesh as the fog cover plunged down visibility to less than 30 metres in some areas, according to the state meteorological department officials.
IMD said “dense to very dense” fog was reported in some parts of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh with a marginal rise in morning temperature across the region.
“Dense to very dense fog (0-25 metres) in some pockets of Uttar Pradesh and in isolated pockets over Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi, Southwest Rajasthan and North Madhya Pradesh,” the IMD said in a bulletin.
“Less than 30 metres of visibility was recorded in Patiala, Ambala, Chandigarh Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Palam, Bareilly, Lucknow, Varanasi and Gwalior,” it said.
While “dense” fog is likely to prevail over the region for the next three days, a western disturbance over is likely to bring light to moderate rainfall in the plains and snowfall in the hilly areas, the weather body predicted.
The thick fog cover affected flight and train services, and also caused a string of accidents.
At least 134 domestic and international flights, both departure and arrival, were affected at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport due to poor visibility. Likewise, as many as 22 trains were delayed at the New Delhi Railway Station. Trains like the Howrah-New Delhi Rajdhani and Jammu-Tawi Rajdhani were delayed for more than an hour. Visuals from the station showed several passengers waiting amid intense cold.
According to officials, Chandigarh experienced the season’s first “dense fog” on Thursday morning, with visibility reducing to 25 metres at 8.30am. Visibility was 25 metres at Ambala and 50 metres in Karnal in Haryana. Zero visibility was reported in Bathinda.
The Chandigarh-Delhi Shatabdi Express was also delayed by around an hour on Thursday morning. Chandigarh airport officials said nine flights were delayed and one cancelled in the morning.
In Uttar Pradesh, three people were killed in accidents caused by low visibility in Lucknow and Unnao.
In Lucknow, one person died after a vehicle fell into a canal in the early hours of Thursday. In a separate accident, five people were injured when two trucks collided on Mohan Road near Shivri intersection under Kakori police station limits.
Two people were killed in Unnao district on Wednesday night after their motorcycle rammed into a stationary truck, station house officer (SHO) Kamal Dubey, Sehramau police station, said. The deceased were identified as Govind Pathak (31) and Vivekanand (21).
“It appears that the deceased failed to spot the truck due to dense fog. While Pathak died on the spot, Vivekanand succumbed to injuries at a hospital a few hours later,” Dubey said.
In Muzaffarnagar, two men were killed after being run over by a truck in Miranpur Police station area on Wednesday night. SHO Ravindra Singh Yadav said: “Naveen (25) and his friend Vineet (24) were travelling on a motorcycle when a truck hit their bike and ran over the duo, killing them on the spot.”
Early on Thursday, Unnao police constable Dinesh Yadav was injured after his vehicle collided with a truck under Purva police station limits. He is undergoing treatment in a hospital, officials said.
The Uttar Pradesh Road Transport Corporation issued guidelines, asking drivers to refrain from running buses if the visibility is low.
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath had to cancel his trip to Ayodhya on Thursday due to poor visibility, press secretary in his office Mrityunjay Kumar said.
Minimum temperatures went up and hovered a notch above normal in Delhi, Punjab and Haryana.
Delhi recorded a minimum temperature of 8.4 degrees Celsius, one notch above the season’s average. The air quality of the city was in the “very poor” category, the IMD said.
In Punjab, Ludhiana recorded a low of 10.3 degrees Celsius, which was five notches above normal limits. Patiala’s minimum at 9 degrees Celsius was three notches above normal limits. Amritsar recorded a minimum temperature of 8.9 degrees Celsius, six notches above normal.
In Haryana, Ambala recorded a minimum temperature of 9.4 degrees Celsius, three notches above normal.
