Heavy fog, causing disruptions to air and rail traffic, is a regular affair every year in North India. However, on Tuesday, the disruptions reached epic proportions when hundreds, maybe thousands, of commuters in Delhi were found waiting helplessly on railway platforms and at airport terminals.
Thick fog and low visibility (under 50 metres) at Indira Gandhi International airport caused at least 50 flights to be delayed by hours. Two flights—a SpiceJet aircraft from Dubai and an Air India flight from Frankfurt—had to be diverted to neighbouring Jaipur airport.
“This year, the DGCA and Civil Aviation Ministry are keenly monitoring that only CAT-3 equipped flights and pilots are allowed to land in fog situations. In this case unfortunately, one or the other was missing and so these flights had to be diverted,” said IGI spokesperson Kapil Sabharwal.
Visibility at the airport plummeted to below 50 metres from 2.30 am on Tuesday and started improving only after 10 am on Wednesday. According to the MeT department, Tuesday was this season's third worst dense fog spell after December 2 and December 14.
On Tuesday morning CAT (Category)-3 A and B Instrument Landing System (ILS) were used to guide pilots to land in near zero visibility.
Many passengers spent hours waiting inside aircraft for the fog cover to lift. The Delhi airport's Terminal 1D was bursting at the seams on Tuesday morning with many passengers forced to sit on the floor due to lack of enough seating space.
At least 55 trains were delayed for hours on Tuesday and about 22 trains were rescheduled on Wednesday. Six trains were cancelled and no alternatives were provided. Both on Delhi and New Delhi railway platforms and inside the domestic terminal of IGI airport, passengers were seen sitting or sleeping on floors.
Indian Railway authorities said they are planning to schedule some additional trains to ensure that connectivity in the fog hit North India—to places like Kanpur, Lucknow, Agra, Patna and Jaipur—is not disrupted very frequently.
