New Delhi/Noida: It was a cold, foggy and smoggy Monday morning in the national capital and its suburbs with the minimum temperature at 2.6 degrees Celsius and thousands of people stranded as flights and trains were delayed with visibility dropping to zero metres in some places.
To make things worse, pollution levels were also high with Delhi’s air quality index at 448 at 9.38am.
As a thick fog descended over the region, six people, including two minors, were killed when their car skidded off the road and fell into a canal in Uttar Pradesh’s Greater Noida, apparently due to low visibility, police said. Eleven people travelling in an Ertiga car were on their way to Delhi from Sambhal when the accident occurred.
“The car fell into the Kherli canal in Dankaur area. All 11 were taken to a hospital where doctors declared six of them dead, while the remaining five are undergoing treatment,” a police spokesperson said.
The deceased have been identified as Mahesh (35), Kishan Lal (50), Neeresh (17), Ram Khiladi (75), Mallu (12) and Netrapal (40), they said.
Heavy fog also disrupted flight operations at the Delhi airport with 20 flights diverted, four cancelled, and around 530 delayed till 12.52pm, an official said.
Flights are operating at the airport under CAT III B conditions, which means the runway visual range (RVR) is between 50 metres and 175 metres.
“Owing to dense fog in north India our flights have been impacted across India. We will continue to review the situation and provide real time updates on our social platforms,” said Indigo airlines in a statement.
Train travellers were also hit due to the fog, marring year-end holidays for some and urgent travel plans for others. Thirty trains were delayed by two to seven-and-a-half hours, according to a Railways official. The Delhi-Bhubaneshwar Rajdhani was delayed by seven-and-a-half hours.
While some people went about their work, many decided to stay at home, peering out of their windows hoping to catch a glimpse of the sun through the blanket of fog.
The intense cold, high humidity and low wind speed allowed the accumulation of pollutants leading to further deterioration in the national capital’s air quality.
Vistara airline along with GoAir, SpiceJet, AirAsia India stated on Twitter that due to dense fog and poor visibility in Delhi, their flight operations might be impacted, and advised passengers to check flight status before leaving for the airport.
Agencies