Delhi had to settle with no respite of bad air pollution, and early on Friday, the city went to bed but still received another morning of heavy fog, severely low visibility, and bad air quality. The Air Quality Index (AQI) of the city was 387, which was in the category of very poor, and some localities gave a reading of above 400, which falls in the category of severe, as per the data of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
Pictures captured early in the morning across the national capital indicated that there were heavy mists of fog covering the roads and neighbourhoods, making people crawl at a snail pace. The same can be said of the case at the Indira Gandhi International Airport where near-zero visibility led to disruption of the normal operations and inconvenience to arriving and departing passengers.
During the unfavorable weather, domestic airlines, such as Air India, IndiGo, and SpiceJet, issued travel warnings to their passengers warning them of delays and flight cancellations caused by heavy fog. Delhi airport later reported that it had had an impact on some flight operations but assured passengers that it is working hard to ensure that ground staff and officials were helping passengers reduce inconvenience.
In a statement on social media, IndiGo strongly advised its consumers to review their flight status prior to going to the airport and create more travel time as low visibility may also reduce road traffic. The recommendation is several weeks after the airline experienced a massive number of cancellations that ruined the travel plans of thousands of customers.
SpiceJet also gave the same alert and advised the passengers to check on their flights since the weather was not favourable. Air India, on its part, emphasized on its own program the FogCare, where passengers will get prior notification of their registered mobile numbers and the ability to reschedule flights without any extra fee in case of disruption due to fogs.
With pollution rates still being sky-rocketing and the weather conditions not drastically improving, the inhabitants are still struggling with their health, delaying travel, and lack of visibility.
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