Cold wave continues to grip parts of north India with the Delhi airport issuing yet another fog warning to its air passengers. Airport authorities in an advisory to the passengers on Saturday said that several procedures have been undertaken at the airport to counter the menace of low visibility at the airport.
In a tweet, the airport said “low visibility procedures are in progress at the Delhi airport. All flight operations are presently normal. Passengers are requested to contact the airline concerned for updated flight information.”
Trains, Flights Impacted
Very dense fog reduced visibility at Palam to around 50 metres, affecting road and rail traffic. The visibility at the Palam observatory near the Indira Gandhi International Airport was 25 metres at 5:30 am.
According to ANI, around 34 domestic departure flights from Delhi airport delayed due to bad weather and other related issues. Over 12 arrival flights are delayed at the airport from different destinations.
A Railways spokesperson said 36 trains were delayed by one to seven hours due to the foggy weather.
Record Low Temperatures
According to the weather office, ‘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’.
Safdarjung recorded a minimum temperature of 2.2 degrees Celsius on Saturday. A minimum temperature of 2 degrees Celsius was recorded at Lodhi Road. These are the lowest temperatures in the respective areas this season.
Among the lowest temperatures were reported in Delhi Ridge area that recorded a minimum temperature of 1.5 degrees Celsius, Churu in Rajasthan freezes at 0 degrees Celsius and Nowgong in Madhya Pradesh shivers at 0.5 degrees Celsius.
On Friday, Delhi was reportedly colder than hill stations like Dalhousie, Dehradun and Nainital with the minimum temperature at Ayanagar in southwest Delhi plunging to a numbing 1.8 degrees Celsius.
Cold Wave in Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan
There was no let-up in cold wave conditions sweeping Haryana and Punjab, with the minimum temperature at most places settling below normal limits on Saturday.
Fog blanketed several parts of the two states, reducing visibility in the early hours of the morning.
According to a meteorological department report, the mercury settled at a low of 2 degrees Celsius in Narnaul and Hisar in Haryana.
Almost entire Rajasthan is reeling under severe cold as the minimum temperature in many areas were recorded below the freezing point for several consecutive days. On Friday night, the minimum temperature was recorded at 0.0 degree Celsius in Churu and 0.6 degree Celsius in Pilani.
“The minimum temperature on Friday night was 1.0 degrees in Sikar, 1.2 degrees in Karauli, 1.6 degrees in Anta, 1.7 degrees in Banasthali, 2.0 degrees in Bikaner, 2.4 degrees in Alwar, 2.6 degrees in Dholpur, 3.3 degrees in Nagaur and 3.4 degrees in Tonk,” according to the Meteorological Department.
Alarming Report on Extreme Weather Events in India
Meanwhile a report by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) suggests that 2022 saw the highest number of human casualties in India due to extreme weather events in three years. As many as 2,227 reportedly died in 2022, according to the Annual Statement on Climate of India – 2022.
According to the report, a total of 1,285 people (58 per cent of total casualties) died due to lightning strikes and thunderstorms, up from 787 (2021) and 737 (2020), per Indian Express.
Heavy rain, floods and landslides were the second highest killer in 2022, claiming 835 lives (37 per cent) while this figure was 759 in 2021 and 414 in 2020.
Read all the Latest India News here
Comments
0 comment