KUALA LUMPUR – India’s capital, New Delhi, continues to shiver in the cold wave as temperatures are expected to dip to 4 degrees Celsius today.
According to its Meteorological Department, the cold wave and dense fog will persist until Saturday, which is already wreaking havoc on India’s aviation industry and Republic Day weekend travel plans.
The department has already issued an orange alert (for dense fog) for today and tomorrow and a yellow alert for Friday and Saturday.
More than 50 flights were affected at Indira Gandhi International Airport yesterday due to the fog. Visibility had plummeted to below 50m between 7am and 8.30am local time yesterday.
Meanwhile, an altercation between a passenger and an IndiGo pilot was caught on video yesterday.
According to Evgenia Belskaia, who filmed the video, the co-pilot blamed passengers for a 13-hour delay amid heightened tension among travellers.
The passenger, identified as Sahil Kataria, attacked the pilot during the delay announcement, leading to Sahil being removed from the plane.
He has been referred to an independent internal committee for his inclusion on the “no-fly list”. Sahil later apologised.
Over 30 Delhi-bound trains were delayed by 90 minutes to 6 hours.
New Delhi’s air quality index deteriorated yesterday and was in the “very poor” category at 371. – January 17, 2024