Dense fog and cold weather conditions continue to hamper train movements to and from the national capital, with two dozen long-distance trains running behind schedule by up to eight hours or more.According to Northern Railways, around 24 long-distance trains to Delhi were delayed on Thursday due to fog and poor visibility conditions.
The list includes the Gaya-New Delhi Mahabodhi Express (12397) train, which was running eight hours late.Similarly, the Puri-New Delhi Purushottam Express (12801), Katihar-Amritsar Express (15707), Bhubneshwar-New Delhi Rajdhani Express (22811), and Bhubneshwar-New Delhi Duronto (12281) were delayed by over 5 hours.Manikpur-Nizamuddin Exp (12447), Kamakhya -Delhi Jn Brahmputra Mail (15658), Amritsar-Mumbai (12904), Chennai-New Delhi Express(12621), Vasco-Nizamuddin Express(12779), Ambedkarnagar-Katra Express (12919), Banaras-New Delhi Express (12559), Bhagalpur-Anandvihar Express (12367), Azamgarh-Delhi Jn Kaifiyat Express(12225), Prayagraj-New Delhi Express(12417), and Rewa-Anandvihar Express (12427) were also delayed by one to fours hours, the railways said.
The mercury dipped to 4.4 degrees Celsius in the national capital on Thursday, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.As per the IMD, Lodhi Road recorded a minimum temperature of 4.4 degree Celsius, Safdarjung recorded 4.4 degree Celsius, while Ayanagar, Ridge and Palam areas of the national capital recorded 5.1, 5.2 and 5.9 degree celsius.Low visibility due to the dense fog was reported from several areas of the city, such as Brigadier Hoshiyar Singh Road, Anand Vihar and India Gate.The visibility recorded at Delhi’s main weather station at Safdarjung was 50 metres at 5:30 am. It was 25 metres at Palam, the Met Office said.
According to the IMD, ‘very dense’ fog is when visibility is between 0 and 50 metres, 51 and 200 metres is ‘dense’, 201 and 500 metres ‘moderate’, and 501 and 1,000 metres ‘shallow’.Moreover, the weather department forecast that dense fog would hover in the city on Friday, Republic Day and the minimum temperature would remain at 7 degrees Celsius.
Noting the cold wave conditions in parts of north India, IMD, said, “Cold day to severe cold day conditions prevailed in many parts of Punjab, East Uttar Pradesh and Bihar; in some parts of West UP, Haryana, Chandigarh and northwest Rajasthan. Cold day conditions were also observed in isolated pockets of Delhi and southwest Madhya Pradesh.” (Inputs from ANI)