Smog smothers Chennai on Republic Day

Chennai: For the second time in a month, Chennai airport authorities on Friday closed down operations due to dense fog affecting the arrival and departure of more than 30 domestic and internal flights stranding hundreds of passengers. The adverse climate also claimed the life of an 18-year-old motorist, who collided on a culvert due to poor visibility in Selaiyur.

The severity of the fog was such that student Sathish Kumar, who took up newspaper vending as a part-time, was left unattended for some time as the victim and his bike were not visible for the passersby till 6.45 am. When the pedestrians noticed the boy, they rushed him to the nearby Chromepet general hospital only to be declared as brought dead. According to police sources, this is the fifth fatal accident due to fog in greater Chennai police limits.

Train traffic in Chennai and Kancheepuram, was also affected due to fog and motorists plying via arterial highways were seen using high beams till 8 am due to lack of visibility. Flights scheduled for London, Malaysia, Singapore, Colombo were also stranded and left the airport with a delay ranging from half an hour to two hours. More than a dozen flights were forced to make sorties in the Chennai skies as the fog affected the visibility along the runway, airport sources said.

The ubiquitous seasonal weather conditions continue to hold fort over  larger areas of TN with certain degree of consistency. Similar conditions will continue to hold sway in the next few days as well. North interior TN and Nilgiris region are likely to see some drop in minimum temperature during the weekend. Weather conditions over western TN could see a probable shift with day highs notching up a degree or two.

Northern plains on the other hand will continue to be under the blanket of a cold wave sweeping across the region. Dense fog very likely at isolated places over North Rajasthan, Himachal and Uttarakhand.