21 December,2011 09:17 AM IST | | Surender Sharma
Following heavy fog in Delhi and its neighbouring states, more than 50 trains got delayed and 11 flights stood cancelled in the capital; Delhi airport and Northern Railway make arrangement for delays or cancellations
If you are planning a trip to any of the north Indian states, you had better check with the respective airline or railway service about the fog condition.
Following the heavy fog that had blinded Delhi and its neighbouring states, more than 50 trains got delayed and 11 flights stood cancelled in the capital on Monday.
No Way ahead! A cyclist passes through heavy fog on a chilly morning
in New Delhi. A thick fog disrupted road and rail traffic at several places
in north India, including Delhi, as the cold wave intensified, resulting in
26 deaths in UP this season. Pic/AFP
Sounding the fog warning, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said the condition is expected to last from December 20 to February 20. RK Jenamani, director of the meteorological departmentu00a0 (IGI Airport), said, "Heavy fog conditions would last for around 120 hours in the next two months, which would affect runway visibility."
Hence, the Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) authorities have made special provisions to look after passengers, including extra seating capacity and food and beverage counters, in case of flight delays or cancellations.
DIAL officials said that apart from sharing fog related details and status of flights on their websites, they would post information of social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.
"For the first time, in addition to snooze cabins, transit hotels for both the international and the domestic passengers would be available for passengers," an official said.
Likewise, the Northern Railway too has taken all precautionary measures to ensure that you don't have to suffer the horrid cold. SK Sharma, spokesperson of the Northern Railway, said, "Apart from reaching out to passengers through various mediums, we have also established a fog helpline for the passengers. Also, we have introduced a fog device on 425 trains, which will help to discover the dense fog locations."u00a0
Sharma added that if a train is late beyond 3 hours, the entire ticket amount will be refunded to passengers.
- With inputs
from Agenices
