Delhi fog chaos: Haze to persist for 2 more days

Thick fog continued to reduce visibility across the northern plains and the national capital on Sunday, disrupting trains and flights for a seventh straight day, as weather agencies forecast that the hazy conditions will hobble travel for two more days.

- Jasjeev Gandhiok

Over 100 flights were cancelled at the Delhi airport and more than 500 delayed, according to flight tracking website FlightRadar24, with over 4,000 disruptions over the past week. The city's air quality, meanwhile, improved, but remained in the upper reaches of the “very poor” zone.

Sunday’s spell of fog was wrought by a western disturbance that also peppered Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh with fresh snow.

This weather system is likely to last till Tuesday, said the India Meteorological Department (IMD), after which the fog is likely to dissipate.

The fog cut visibility across parts of the Capital, which woke up to a blanket of haze and pollution. Visibility was lowest at Safdarjung (200 metres) between 1.30am and 2.30am on Sunday. It was 300m at Palam between 10pm on Saturday and 12.30am on Sunday.

The IMD classifies fog as 'shallow' when visibility is between 500 and 1,000 metres; as 'moderate' when it is between 200 and 500 metres; as 'dense' when it is between 50 and 200 metres; and 'very dense' when it is below 50 metres.

Delhi clocked an AQI of 377 at 4pm on Sunday, an improvement from 398 on Saturday, but the 11th straight day pollution levels were in the "very poor" band or worse.

Still, the moderate fog was enough to throw operations out of gear at the Delhi airport, which has reeled from a series of crises over the past few weeks.