NEW DELHI: Flight and rail services in India’s capital city of New Delhi were disrupted on Tuesday (Dec 26) morning as a thick layer of fog enveloped the region, reducing visibility to barely 50m in some areas.
“Very dense fog” was observed in the city, where the temperature was just 9 degrees Celsius, India’s weather department said, adding “dense to very dense fog” was likely in the early hours of the day in some areas until Wednesday.
“Dense fog” contains particulate matter and other pollutants, according to the weather department, which warned of the impact this may have on the health of the city’s 20 million residents.
New Delhi’s air quality index stood at 376 on Tuesday morning, rated as “very poor”, according to the Central Pollution Control Board’s website. Levels of zero to 50 are considered to be good.
At least 30 flights that were to land at or depart from the Delhi airport, including on international routes, experienced delays because of the dense fog, according to Indian news agency ANI, in which Reuters has a minority stake.