Delhi continued to battle a cold wave and poor visibility conditions, hitting road, air and rail traffic on Monday. At least 150 domestic flights were delayed since delayed, according to reports, as the as national capital recorded a minimum temperature lower than that of most places in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand for five consecutive days.
The visibility levels dropped to 25 metres at the Palam observatory, near the IGI Airport, and the Safdarjung observatory, Delhi's primary weather station, an official of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. Satellite images showed a fog layer extending from Punjab and northwest Rajasthan to Bihar across Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, PTI reported. Over 260 trains were also cancelled due to bad weather conditions on Monday, the railways said.
The Directorate of Education also extended winter vacation in Delhi's private schools till January 15. Schools were slated to reopen on Monday. In an advisory, the IMD has urged people to limit outdoor activity, as this could lead to frostbite.
On Sunday, too, a blinding layer of fog over north India and eastern parts of the country affected the schedule of over 480 trains and over 25 flights.
Meanwhile, Delhiites are also struggling to deal with toxic air as air quality index (AQI) remains in the 'severe' category over the past few days. Amid the sudden spike in air pollution due to foggy weather, the Centre's air quality panel had directed the implementation of curbs under stage III of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) in Delhi-NCR, including a ban on non-essential construction and demolition work.