Nearly 40 flights have been affected in Delhi because of thick fog as large parts of north India are battling severe cold.
At the Delhi airport, 13 International flights and 32 domestic flights were reportedly delayed.
Parts of the capital woke up to dense fog today with the mercury dropping to 7.4 degrees Celsius, one degree below the season’s average.
With the maximum temperature being recorded at 17.4 degrees Celsius, five degrees below normal, the Meteorological department had declared cold day conditions in Delhi yesterday. (Keep Someone Warm this Winter: Donate a Blanket)
Predicting party cloudy skies, the Met department said that the maximum temperature may rise to 18 degrees Celsius today. “The skies will remain party cloudy with moderate to dense fog in the morning,” a weather official said.
Extreme cold conditions in states like Himachal Pradesh have so far reportedly claimed 30 lives.
Snowfall in the hill states and icy winds across the plains have dragged temperatures down across North India, with several regions experiencing thick fog and poor visibility.
A bout of snowfall earlier in the week in Himachal Pradesh’s Shimla have snapped electricity supply and jammed water pipes. State agencies are now trying to restore water and power supply, as well as clear nearly 200 roads that have been blocked by the snow.
Several tourists, who were stranded in Kullu and Manali by the snowfall, have been rescued.
In Jammu and Kashmir, Srinagar witnessed one of its coldest nights yesterday, at -4.2 degree Celsius. Minimum temperatures in the valley have hovered between -3 and -7 in the last one week.
Night temperatures in Ladakh have dropped between -15 and -14 degree Celsius.
Cold conditions prevailed at several places in Punjab and Haryana, where a heavy blanket of fog affected road traffic. “It’s very foggy and it has become very difficult to deliver goods to the customer,” said Sukhvinder Singh, a truck driver from Amritsar.
The mercury also dipped in Uttar Pradesh, with Muzaffarnagar and Agra recording the lowest temperatures.
“It is very cold. We are shivering and the trains are leaving very late,” said a worker outside Kanpur railway station.
