Dense fog reduces visibility, flights delayed as Delhi battles cold wave

A dense layer of fog gripped the national capital, impairing the movement of traffic as the city woke up to a bitterly cold Sunday.

The minimum temperature in the RK Puram Area was recorded at 7 degrees Celsius in the early hours of the day.

Meanwhile, people on the streets as well as the homeless took refuge at government-run night shelters amid the unforgiving cold and foggy conditions.

The night shelters in Delhi are aimed at providing refuge to homeless people, who live on the streets and have nowhere else to go in the cold. The shelters offer blankets, beds, hot water, and food to those seeking shelter.

On Friday, the city saw the season's first cold wave day, which, according to the India Meterological Department, is recorded when the minimum temperature goes below 4 degrees Celsius.

Meanwhile, the Indian Meteorological Department issued an alert amid the bone-chilling cold.

"Very dense fog layer extends over Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, North Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh. Passengers on highways need to drive extremely carefully and only with fog lights," the IMD posted from its X handle.

"Journeys need to be halted until fog reduction by morning especially on expressways. Very Dense fog reporting over Amritsar, Chandigarh, Patiala, Ambala, Ganganagar, Palam, Safdarjung, Lucknow with visibility 0 meter since 0230 hrs IST of today," it added.

The fog is likely to prevail during the morning hours in isolated pockets of northwest India during the next three to four days, the Met agency said.

As the weather forecasting agency predicted dense to very dense fog on Sunday, the Delhi Police urged motorists to drive carefully amid low visibility.

Delhi Police posted from its official X handle, "The Meteorological Department, Delhi, has forecast dense to very dense fog on January 14, 2024, and dense fog on January 15 & 16, 2024. We appeal to all to drive carefully in the fog."

Meanwhile, as thick fog gripped the national capital, reducing visiting to alarming proportions, several flights were delayed.

Vistara's Delhi-to-Pune flight was delayed by more than an hour, according to officials.