"In the night, two international flights, one from Hong Kong and another from Dubai, had to be diverted to Lahore and Mumbai (respectively). The first flight today took off only at 10.18 a.m.," said Harbhajan Singh, spokesperson for the Airports Authority of India.

The visibility, according to officials here, had been poor since 2.30 a.m. At 8.28 a.m., the airport had recorded a visibility of 100 metres, and at 9.30 a.m., the visibility was around 150 metres, Singh said.

Indian Airlines alone saw the delay of all its 11 scheduled flights between 5.50 a.m. and 8.00 a.m. and similar delays were reported by the other major carriers such as Jet Airways and Air Sahara.
 
Northern Railway too saw utter chaos Monday, as the fog caused a delay of more than 40 trains all night, officials here said.

Seven trains scheduled to leave New Delhi Railway Station in the day had to be rescheduled to leave at a later hour due to the delay in the morning.

According to a press release issued by railway authorities, the New Delhi-Howrah Poorva Express scheduled to depart at 4.15 p.m. had been rescheduled to 6.30 p.m., whereas the New Delhi- Mumbai Central Rajdhani Express scheduled to depart at 4.00 p.m. had been booked for 4.50 p.m.

The Hazrat Nizamuddin-Mumbai August Kranti Rajdhani Express that was scheduled to depart from the Hazrat Nizamuddin station at 4.55 p.m., was rescheduled for 5.45 p.m., and the New-Delhi-Bhubhaneswar Rajdhani Express was delayed to 5.50 p.m. from 5.15 p.m., the statement said.

The Delhi-Haria Jharkhand Swarna Jayanti Express scheduled to depart from the Delhi Junction at 7.30 p.m. was re-scheduled for 9.50 p.m.

And the Delhi- Howrah Janata Express at 3.30 p.m. was rescheduled for 5.20 p.m., while the Delhi- Raxaul Satyagraha Express at 5.20 p.m. was re-scheduled for 6.50 p.m. 

"This is the second time this winter when the fog cover has been so thick. A similar situation had occurred on Nov 25, which saw the season's first fog," said the Northern Railway spokesperson.

--Indo-Asian News Service