Smog grips Delhi, drops visibility levels in city

Delhi today experienced its first fog of the winter season with a thick smog plummeting visibility levels, catching Delhiites unawares and throwing life out of gear in the city.

According to the India Meteorological Department, the visibility level dropped to 500 metres at 0700 hrs in the morning and continued to remain so till noon.

The low visibility, which weatherman said was caused due to collective suspension of dust particles, smog and water vapour, led to traffic jams in many parts of the city.

According to the Met department, the smog continued for a longer period because there was no wind. It also said the smog was a result of fresh western distrubances originating from Pakistan.

Though visibility levels later improved to about 1000 metres, the smog is likely to return tomorrow with the Met office forecasting fog till afternoon.

The maximum temperature was recorded at 29.9 degrees, while the minimum was recorded at 15.5 degrees. The low visibility is likely to continue in the city with the weatherman forecasting fog/smog in the next 24 hours. The maximum temperature tomorrow would be around 29 degrees and the minimum 16 degrees. Airline schedules were, however, not hit, a spokesperson of the Delhi International Airport Pvt Limited (DIAL) said.

Weather office said that this was the first time there was such fog this Winter season.

Though the smog did not affect flight schedules, several proactive measures have been taken at the IGI Airport here to minimise inconvenience to passengers and ensure continuity of operations. ''The measures, undertaken by DIAL are being implemented on the city side, inside the passenger terminals as well as on the airside,'' a DIAL spokesperson told UNI today. He informed that IGIA was the only airport in India to feature CAT IIIB Instrument Landing System which allowed compatible aircraft and trained pilots to land even when the Runway Visual Range (RVR) was up to 50 m.

-- (UNI) -- 07DI35.xml

Viewer's Comment

very infomative report
Posted by : siddhant (delhi) On : 11/8/2009 8:47:09 AM

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