Delhi: Rail, air traffic severely hit due to smog

New Delhi: Railway traffic was badly affected in Delhi as the national capital woke up to yet another smog-covered morning. Almost 41 trains were running behind schedule, nine rescheduled, and almost 10 were cancelled.

Winter is coming to North India and heavy smog has surrounded Delhi and the neighbouring areas. The smog has not only affected the lives of people, even the Indian Railways could not tackle it.

On Thursday, the air quality of North Campus (DU) was recorded at 485, which is in the ‘severe’ category. While Particulate Matter at Anand vihar was recorded as 540, it was 799 at Punjabi Bagh.

People were stranded at major railway stations as trains were either late or rescheduled. They were having a tough time countering two major situations —late train services and smog.

“We have been waiting for the past five hours for our train, but we don’t see any sign of it coming any time soon. Adding to it is this climatic fiasco. People are struggling,” said Ravinder Singh, a commuter at Anand Vihar railway station. 

Lalit Kumar, a passenger waiting for his train, said: “It is becoming very difficult for us to counter the air. Even if we cover our mouth, the eyes start hurting. To top it, the trains are delayed. What a debacle!”

A railway employee at New Delhi railway station said, “Every year during this time rail services in North India gets affected. This is not the first time. We are trying our best to help people in every possible way we can. People should also understand and cooperate with us.”

A similar situation could be seen at the IGI Airport as dense smog hit the flight operations on Thursday. The schedule of several domestic and international flights was affected, causing inconvenience for the travellers. Around 14 flights were delayed.

Earlier in the morning, Bollywood actor Lara Dutta shared her picture on Instagram and wrote, “When your flight ain’t leaving in a hurry... best spot at Delhi’s T3 terminal.”