Dense fog engulfs parts of Amritsar district, affects visibility
Manmeet Singh Gill
Amritsar, December 7
Dense fog enveloped the region, especially rural areas, making commuting a difficult task amid low visibility on Thursday. In most rural areas of the district, visibility remained low till 12 pm resulting in hardships for the drivers.
Many residents are happy with the change in weather conditions though. Dense fog and spike in cold conditions have forced residents to wrap up warm, which is evident from the warm clothes they wear these days. Foggy days have worried commuters, especially those who need to travel by road to reach their workplaces and home.
With the visibility dropping to less than few meters on Thursday, fog has not only increased travel time but also the chances of accidents as most of the roads do not have white markings and other warning signs to guide and alert drivers.
The chances of accidents are further increased by not turning on the front and rear lights of vehicles. Besides, fog lights are also required to warn other vehicles coming from the opposite side, but these have not been installed on most of the vehicles. Then come ‘jugaad’ vehicles like ‘gharukas’ or rhehris made by using the front half of bikes which are lacking in most safety features.
City resient Varun, who runs a shop in Jhabal town (22 km away), said, “During summer, it takes almost 40-45 minutes to reach my workplace. But on foggy days, travel time doubles and then there is a risk of accident as the road is not fit for driving during low visibility.” He said white markings, which help drivers stay on course amid foggy days, should be painted on all roads.
Sukhjinder Singh, a retired roadways driver, said, “People should not use loud music. When visibility is poor, they need to use their listening power to compensate for the loss of visibility to stay safe.” He added that overtaking other vehicles at high speed should be avoided. During fog, people should keep their headlights on low beam instead of high beam.
