Cold wave and dense fog hits road, rail & air traffic movement

New Delhi, January 9, 2023

For the fifth consecutive day, Delhi saw cold wave conditions on Monday morning and a very dense fog with visibility of just 25 metres, hitting road, rail and air traffic movement.

At the Safdarjung observatory, a minimum temperature of 3.8 degrees Celsius was recorded in the morning while the weather stations at Lodhi Road, Ayanagar and Ridge recorded a minimum temperature of 3.6 degrees, 3.2 degrees and 3.3 degrees, respectively.

Meanwhile, because of the very dense fog, around 29 trains were delayed by two to five hours and around 15 flights were affected , as per the officials.

"Visibility recorded (in m) at 0530 hours IST of 09.01.2023. Punjab : Bhatinda-0, Amritsar-25; Haryana, Chandigarh & Delhi: chandigarh-0, Ambala-25, Hissar-50, Delhi (Safdarjung)-25, Delhi (Palam)-50; Uttar Pradesh: Agra-0, Lucknow (Amausi)-0, Varanasi (Babatpur)-25, Bareilly-50," said India Meteorological Department in a tweet.

"As per satellite imagery and available visibility data, the fog layer extended from Punjab and adjoining northwest Rajasthan to Bihar across Haryana, Chandigarh & Delhi and Uttar Pradesh," IMD said.

The overall air quality in the national capital was recorded in "very poor category" at 395 on Monday morning, according to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR).

The AQI at Pusa and Delhi University reached 404 and 415 into the severe category while Lodhi Road recorded 377, Dhirpur 391 and Ayanagar 379, all in the "very poor" category on Monday morning.

An AQI between zero and 50 is considered "good"; 51 and 100 "satisfactory"; 101 and 200 "moderate"; 201 and 300 "poor"; 301 and 400 "very poor"; and 401 and 500 "severe".

IANS