New Delhi: After a day's respite, dense fog once again returned to the capital today hitting air and rail traffic with 15 flights of both domestic and international carriers being delayed and 10 others cancelled even as 40 trains were running behind schedule.
Flight operations were hampered at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) this morning as the general visibility dropped to 50 metres and the runway visibility range (RVR) dipped to just less than 150 metres, the bare minimum required for planes to take off, airport officials said. As many as 40 Delhi-bound trains were running several hours behind schedule as fog continued to affect rail services for the ninth consecutive day. Several morning trains from New Delhi station were also rescheduled due to the poor visibility, Northern Railway sources said. A fog blanket began to envelope the capital's airport since late last night and visibility deteriorated following which airport authorities implemented the Low Visibility Procedure (LVP).
After a brief respite for a day yesterday, passengers are once again facing the problem of delayed and cancelled flights. Over 100 flights were cancelled and more than 600 delayed due to the dense fog last week. Among the late running trains are Puri-New Delhi Purshottam Express, Rajendra Nagar (Patna)-New Delhi Rajshani Express, Howrah-New Delhi Rajdhani Express and Kashi Viswanath Express. The Delhi-Hatia Swarna Jayanti Express has been cancelled from today till the end of the month, taking the total number of cancellations for the period to 14.
