Flight and rail services in India’s capital city of New Delhi were disturbed on Dec 26 morning as a thick layer of fog was all over the area, bringing down visibility to barely 50m in some regions. “Very intense fog” was seen in the city, where the temperature was just 9 deg C, India’s weather department revealed, adding that “dense to very dense fog” was happening in the early hours of the day in some places till the date of Dec 27. “Dense fog” has particulate matter and other pollutants, according to the weather department, which warned about the effect this may have on the health of the city’s 20 million residents.
New Delhi’s air quality index stood at 376 on Dec 26 morning, rated as “extremely poor”, according to the Central Pollution Control Board’s website. Levels of 0 to 50 are considered good. Around 30 flights that were to land at or depart from the Delhi airport, which also includes international routes, experienced delays because of the dense fog, according to Indian news agency ANI, in which Reuters has a minority stake. Around 14 trains travelling along routes in North India were also impacted, ANI reported.