Flights grounded, travel plans in disarray as fog disrupts daily life

This winter, city residents have experienced heavy fog for eight days in December and three in January.

The presence of fog has, apart from adding to the chill, disrupted the travel plans, with air and rail traffic being disturbed.

"The arrival of the western disturbances brings with it the cold wave and dense fog which surely hinders the daily lives of the people of the city. It is the topography and location of Chandigarh that makes the city prone to fog," said Surender Paul the director of the Meteorological Department.

The visibility during fog reduced to 200 meters or less making it tough for people to travel. Over the past few days, most flights have remained grounded. The trains have also been running behind schedule for several hours. In 2011, the ground clouds completely drained the visibility in Chandigarh for 14 and three days in January and December respectively, whereas in 2010, haze was observed for 26 days in January.

For 10 years, January 2003 has remained the foggiest month so far for being deprived of visibility for 27 days.

The years 2000 and 2001 have had 13 and 19 foggy days in January and 4 and 12 foggy days in December respectively.

Number of foggy days

JANUARY DECEMBER

2003 27 16

2004 20 8

2005 13 2

2006 10 9

2007 7 6

2008 4 10

2009 17 6

2010 26 5

... contd.

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