Skymet has been saying that the belt of fog extending from Uttar Pradesh and foothills of Bihar to Sub Himalayan West Bengal is likely to reduce. On Friday morning, fog remained confined to east Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and parts of Northeast India.
Today morning visibility reduced to 500 meters in Gorakhpur, Patna and Siliguri. Most vulnerable places like Bareilly, Khajuraho, Gwalior, Allahabad, Lucknow and Agra remained fog free today. In North India, Delhi witnessed shallow fog as visibility reduced to 650 meters.
Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Northeast India have been bearing the brunt of dense to very dense fog for more than a week now. However, fog is likely to ease out further in these states. If at all, fog will be location specific.
Several trains to and from Patna Junction have been running behind schedule due to fog cover in and around the city. In fact, today morning a major mishap could have taken place when the North-East Express and Keul-Patna train, running on the same track, collided at Barh station near Patna. The accident raised a chaotic situation on the platform but no casualty was reported.
The situation could have been averted if effective Anti Collision Devices are installed in the trains. Unmanned level crossing accidents also increase in foggy weather.
Dense fog generally sets in along the Gangetic plains from mid-December to end of January and sometimes stretching up to the first fortnight of February. The band of cloud running from Maharashtra to east Uttar Pradesh and Bihar seems to be spreading. As have been reiterated by Skymet, clouds generally restrict outgoing radiation and supress fog in the lower levels. Formation of fog takes place under stable conditions and clear skies. This band of cloud is influnencing the wind pattern as well.
