New Delhi, January 21
Dense fog - the worst in seven years - resulted in near zero visibility sending rail, and air traffic in a tailspin over large parts of North India beginning last night.

Chaos and confusion prevailed at Indira Gandhi International Airport and railway stations across the north while even as clueless officials tried to alleviate travellers’ misery. Over 175 flights were rescheduled or cancelled. Though inconvenience was unavoidable, the alleged callousness of authorities had many passengers fuming.

Many passengers were made to board flights and sat in their flights — including one scheduled for Dubai — for up to seven hours before they took off or were rescheduled or cancelled. There were also complaints that airlines “overbooked” as passengers scurried around for alternative tickets amidst cancellations.

Many departures were delayed by up to 17 hours as fog suddenly began to envelope the Capital 9 pm onwards. A number of international flights scheduled to take off at night or early morning were cancelled. A flight headed for Bengaluru from New Delhi returned shortly after take off due to poor visibility. Eighteen flights were cancelled, including those from Delhi to Jabalpur, Mumbai, Kullu and Pune, while 27 flights were diverted to other cites.

“Passengers were asked to board and we had thought that flights would take off as soon as visibility improved, but it took longer than expected,” an airport official said.

Indian Meteorological Department director BP Yadav said fog was likely to stay for at least a couple of more days. “The fog since Wednesday night has been the most-dense since 2003. The conditions broke a seven-year record,” he said.

Things were only worse for train passengers. While almost 75 trains across north India were cancelled today, close to 80 were delayed and 30 rescheduled. Northern Railways PRO YS Rajput said visibility was near zero and many trains, including Shivganga Express, Nizamuddin-Palwal Express and New Delhi-Rohtak Express were cancelled. While the Farakka Express was delayed by over 28 hours, Lal Quila Express was running 27 hours behind schedule. Poorva Express and Purushottam Express were delayed by 23 hours.

“We are refunding tariffs of trains delayed by over three hours. Passengers are also being accommodated on other trains on similar routes,” he said.