PremiumAround 100 flights were delayed in Delhi yesterday as the city continues to reel under severe cold conditions with a thick layer of fog over it again.
The fog has lowered the visibility in the national capital, disrupting flight movement. At Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport, the visibility dipped to 50 metres between 10 pm on Monday and 4 am Tuesday, delaying around 100 flights.
According to reports by Hindustan Times, five flight flights were diverted to Jaipur between 11 pm and midnight on Monday.
Poor visibility affecting the northern parts of the country over the past few days.
India Meteorological Department (IMD) scientist RK Jenamani said flight operations were affected between 6 pm on Monday to 1 pm on Tuesday due to low visibility at most airports.
“The fog covered nearly 1 million sq km in area, covering north, central, and eastern India. It was nearly three times more area on Monday night and Tuesday morning. The visibility stayed between 50 to 100 metres between 10 pm on January 2 and 4 am on January 3," the HT quoted him.
In the national capital, the flight diversion was reported at around 11.25 pm on Monday, with a SpiceJet flight from Jabalpur to Delhi being diverted to Jaipur. This was followed by a flight from Dubai (P4999) being diverted around 11.35 pm, A GoFirst Mumbai to Delhi flight (G8 341) was diverted at 11.36 pm, and two more flights – a Dubai-Delhi flight (VTVRV) and an Ahmedabad-Delhi Air India flight (AI 816).
While flights can still land at the airport when visibility is 50 metres, no flights are allowed to depart unless the runway visibility range (RVR) is 125 metres.
'Cold day' conditions gripped Delhi on Tuesday as frosty winds from the Himalayas swept through the plains, IMD said.
At least 21 trains to Delhi were delayed by one-and-a-half to five hours due to the foggy weather on Tuesday.
'Moderate' to 'dense' fog is predicted in Delhi for the next two days. Coldwave conditions are set to return on the weekend and the mercury may drop to 4 degrees Celsius, the IMD said.
It said 'dense' to 'very dense' fog and 'cold day' conditions are very likely to continue over northwest India during the next four to five days.
According to the IMD, 'very dense' fog is when visibility is between 0 and 50 metres, 51 and 200 metres is 'dense', 201 and 500 metres 'moderate', and 501 and 1,000 metres 'shallow'.
In the plains, the weather office declares a cold wave if the minimum temperature dips to four degrees Celsius or is 10 degrees Celsius or below and 4.5 notches below normal.
A severe cold wave is when the minimum temperature dips to 2 degrees Celsius or the departure from normal is more than 6.4 degrees Celsius.
The meteorological conditions also led to a deterioration in the city’s pollution levels. The 24-hour average Air Quality Index (AQI) of the national capital was recorded at 385 at 4 pm on Tuesday.