Fog in Delhi affects aviation services in India

Thick fog in the air disrupted airplane and train services in India’s capital for straight second day on Monday causing unspecified hours of delay to stranded passengers heading for different parts of the globe.

The poor visibility forced the aviation authorities at Indira Gandhi International Airport to delay and divert over 100 flights.

Of them as many as 20 international flights have been delayed due to the dense fog. Many domestic flights of the national career Air India, and private airlines have been cancelled or the departure delayed for unspecifed period.

According to the weathermen the general visibility at the airport and the city is less than 50 metres.

Reports from Mumbai and Kolkata also said their flight services to different destinations have been affected by the fog for second consecutive day.

Despite some steps to improve the flight services by the aviation authorities, the pilots do not dare to fly unless visibility improved.

“This year we have taken new steps to lower the take-off visibility minima, which has been brought down from 175 m to 150 m for bigger aircraft like Boeing 747. For others it has been brought down from 150 m to 125 m. Those aircraft which are not compliant with the 3B instrument landing system will land only after 10 am when the visibility is good,” Civil Aviation Secretary Nasim Zaidi said on Sunday.

On Sunday more than 100 flights were affected. Over 40 flights, including 14 international ones, were diverted while 38 were cancelled.

Train services linking New Delhi with the rest of the country have also been badly affected, both by the thick smog in the air and ethnic Gujjars’ “rail roko”, agitation in Rajasthan.

According Indian Railways already five trains were cancelled and dozens were abnormally delayed.

The mercury in Delhi dipped to 3 degrees Celsius and in the neighbourhood further down forcing the people to burn tyres on the streets to keep warm.