Dense fog in North India; power, rail, air services go haywire

New Delhi, Jan 2 (PTI) Several parts in north India faced
power cuts in the wee hours of the day as a thick blanket of
fog engulfed the region reducing visibility, leading to three
train accidents claiming ten lives and severely affecting air
traffic.

The fog, which was termed by the Met department as most
intense during the season, reduced visibility to as low as 50
metres Saturday morning.
About 35 lines of Northern Grid tripped around 3.02 am
following problems in disc isolators, resulting in power
failure in areas in Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and Jammu and
Kashmir.
Areas like Rithala, Shalimar Bagh and many localities in
North Delhi plunged into darkness in the wee hours due to the
problem. Technical teams of Northern Grid and Delhi Transco
are working to restore the lines, a Transco official said.
The low visibility apparently caused three separate rail
accidents involving five passenger trains in Uttar Pradesh,
killing 10 persons and injuring about 40 others.
Flight operations at IGI airport here came to a standstill
this morning due to the fog and a cable glitch. No flight
could take off or land for eight hours as runway visibility
dropped to 100 metres and general visibility to less 50
metres. At least 36 domestic and international flights were
affected. (More) PTI TEAM
DDC


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