New Delhi: Heavy fog descended on the city on Sunday morning and visibility dropped to less than 50 metres, badly affecting air and rail traffic, officials said.
"Visibility till 9 am was less than 50 meters. The heavy fog is not expected to lift till 11 am," an official at the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
The fog triggered chaos at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) in the morning when runway visibility was less than 50 metres and low-visibility procedures had to be implemented. At least five flights were cancelled, an IGI airport spokesperson said.
Runway visibility should be at least 150 metres for a plane to take off or land.
Even worse hit was the railways schedule, with the fog causing delays and cancellation of around 50 trains.
"At least five trains have been rescheduled. There are 13 arrivals that have been delayed by over three hours. Nearly 40 routes have also been cancelled in this foggy weather," a senior northern railways official said.
He added that the morning delays could impact train schedules in the day.
The chill, however, appeared to have subsided Sunday morning with the minimum temperature recorded at 7.7 degrees Celsius, a notch above the average for this time of the season. The day time temperature, meanwhile, is likely to touch a maximum of 21 degrees Celsius.
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