Almost 60 trains were taken off the list, with 10 delayed, as Delhi woke up to intense fog affecting visibility, which dropped to less than 50m.
WebIndia123 reports that a number of important trains like Bangalore Rajdhani, Mahananda Express, Ranikhet Express, Shramjeevi and Mahabodhi Express were cancelled, causing huge inconvenience for the passengers. Around nine to ten trains were running behind schedule; some of them include Unchahar Express, Poorva Express, Magadh Express, Vikramshila Express, Swatantrata Senani Express, Dakshin Express and Pursotam Express.
India's capital city has always been susceptible to fog, or more popularly known as 'smog' (smoke and fog) during the winter months. Delhi has been long suffering from acute pollution issues and is said to have the 'deadliest air in the world'. Its air readings showed a scary average of 142.9 micrograms per cubic meter of the pollutant particulate PM2.5, informed EnergyDesk, which basically exceeds WHO's annual standards 13 times over.
Apparently the Meteorological Department had predicted partly cloudy weather which was expected to clear as the day progressed. One of the officers said ""There was dense fog in the morning, but the sky during the day will be mainly clear," reports The Hindu. The city felt the drop in temperature as the day's minimum touched 13.6 degrees whereas the maximum stopped at 19 degrees.
The Delhi flights took off as per schedule, save one early in the morning. The city's pollution has been a growing concern for quite some time now, and has a long history of fog, or smog, leading to interrupted transport schedules. Low visibility has taken a lot of lives due to accidents on the roads. It is time the government starts implementing some measures to take care of this root cause. The first tangible step has been taken by the Chief Minister by restricting the number of cars on road each day.
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