Delhi gets chills as mercury drops to 4.8°C, 11 trains delayed due to dense fog

Tribune News Service

Samad Hoque

New Delhi, January 21

Delhi residents could not get any respite from cold as temperature dropped to 4.8°C while dense fog hit train and flight operations on Sunday.

A total of 11 trains were delayed, including the Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Rajdhani Express that was late by four hours, the Puri-New Delhi Purushottam Express by three hours and Jammutawi-Delhi Sarai Rohilla Duronto by one-and-a-half hours. Several flights were also delayed due to dense fog in the morning.

While the minimum temperature slumped to 4.8°C, three degrees below normal, maximum temperature was recorded at 15.8°C, five degrees below normal.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted that foggy conditions will continue till Republic Day. The maximum and minimum temperatures will be recorded around 17°C-20°C and 5°C-9°C, respectively.

The weather agency has predicted that there is a possibility of cold to severe cold days in parts of Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi from January 21 to 24. The IMD has issued “orange alert” for dense fog for Delhi and nearby areas on January 22-23.

Dense to very dense fog, with visibility of less than 50 meters at night and early morning hours, is likely in some parts of Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi on January 23-25.

Meanwhile, the air quality in the national capital continued to remain in the ‘very poor’ category as AQI was recorded at 349 on Sunday.

Many places in Delhi recorded AQI reading in the ‘severe’ and ‘very poor’ quality — Nehru Nagar (400), Jahangirpuri (398), Anand Vihar (395), Wazirpur (395), Punjabi Bagh (394), Mundka (389), Patparganj (380), Shadipur (380), New Moti Bagh (352), Dwarka Sector 8 (345), Bawana (338), Narela (336) and ITO (323). The IHBAS area recorded slightly better air quality with the AQI at 270.

The air quality index in the range of 0-50 is considered good, 51-100 satisfactory, 101-200 moderate, 201-300 poor, 301-400 very poor and 401-500 severe.

About The Author

Tribune News Service

The Tribune News Service brings you the latest news, analysis and insights from the region, India and around the world. Follow the Tribune News Service for a wide-ranging coverage of events as they unfold, with perspective and clarity.

Join Whatsapp Channel of The Tribune for latest updates.