Fog hits air, rail traffic in Punjab, Haryana

A thick blanket of fog enveloped most parts of Punjab and Haryana today, disrupting normal life and hitting air, rail and road traffic.
In Punjab, fog and mist reduced visibility to less than 50 metres at several places, including Patiala, Amritsar, Hisar, Karnal Ambala and Ludhiana.
Low visibility also hit flight operations in Chandigarh and Amritsar.
"No flight took off today as there was zero visibility due to fog," Amritsar Airport Director Suneel Dutt said.
Morning flights from Delhi to Chandigarh are behind their scheduled arrival timings because of fog, officials at Chandigarh Airport said.
Fog also cast a shadow on rail traffic at Chandigarh as departure of several trains, including the Shatabdi (New Delhi Kalka), Himalayan Queen and Bhiwani-Kalka were delayed by one and a half hours while arrival of few trains, including Allahabad-Chandigarh train was delayed by 9 hours.

Adampur in Punjab turned out to be the coldest place in the region as it recorded a minimum temperature of 2.2 degree Celsius, Met department officials said here today.

Among other places in Punjab, Ludhiana recorded a temperature of 5.3 degree Celsius. Amritsar and Patiala recorded a low of 7.8 degree Celsius and 7.6 degree Celsius respectively, they said.
In Haryana, Ambala, Hisar and Narnaul had a minimum temperature of 8.5 degree Celsius, 6.6 degree Celsius and 7.3 degree Celsius, respectively. While Bhiwani and Karnal recorded a temperature of 7.2 degree Celsius and 8 degree Celsius.
Meanwhile, Union Territory Chandigarh recorded a temperature of 8.3 degree Celsius.

Met department in its forecast said fog and mist will prevail during morning and night in Punjab and Haryana.