Dense fog and toxic air disrupt Delhi-NCR, CAT III operations begin

Wednesday morning saw dense fog covering different regions of the national capital and neighboring parts of the National Capital Region (NCR), which drastically affected visibility and hampered the operations across the essential stretches.

Visuals show near-zero visibility

Pictures taken from Indirapuram in Ghaziabad, Botanical Garden Metro Station in Noida, and the Akshardham area in Delhi captured the thick fog covering the roads and residential areas, and the vehicles moving very slowly as visibility dropped.

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Commuters face difficulties in Noida

Condensed fog was a common sight in various parts of Noida that day, affecting the morning commuters with its presence.

The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) reported that at 7 am, Delhi had an overall Air Quality Index (AQI) of 384, putting it in the 'very poor to severe' category.

Monitoring stations set up for measuring the air quality across the city showed that the AQI levels were quite alarming.

Anand Vihar's AQI was 452, while at ITO it was 426, RK Puram had 411, and Chandni Chowk had 419, all of these areas fell in the 'severe' category. Also, Dwarka Sector 8 reported a high AQI of 414.

AQI remains in severe category

The air quality in other regions was slightly better but still undesirable.

IGI Airport (Terminal 3) had the worst air quality with an AQI of 334, followed closely by Najafgarh with 331 and Aya Nagar with 321, thus, all of them were included in the 'very poor' category.

Airports operate under CAT III conditions

The airport authorities announced on Wednesday that the flight operation at the Indira Gandhi International Airport has been carried out under CAT III conditions as a result of heavy fog, which in turn caused the delays and cancellations.

Flight services are operating under CAT III procedures due to heavy fog, which may cause delays or cancellations.

Nevertheless, this means that the airport will be doing things in a slow manner, and sometimes, flights might even get cancelled.

The ground staff at the airport is available at all terminals to help and also ensure safety for the passengers.

It is recommended to passengers to have a constant communication with their airlines for the information regarding flight updates. The airport management has apologized for the inconvenience this may cause.

Rail services also disrupted

On the other hand, rail services were also disrupted and many trains were late because of the bad visibility.

People traveling by train were seen at the national capital's railway stations as the movement of trains remained slow due to heavy fog.