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EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, December 2: Aviation authorities are relying on the weather gods this winter to address the problem of flight delays and cancellation due to fog in the Capital.
The CAT III (a) Instrument Landing System (ILS) which was slated to become fully operational this winter is not likely to start functioning before September next year, officials of the Airports Authority of India (AAI), Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Indian Airlines and the civial aviation ministry admitted at a press conference this afternoon.
The system allows landing at 200 metres visibility and descending down to 15 metres. ``Last year fog in Delhi was the worst in 11 years. This year, we hope it will be less,'' D.V. Gupta, AAI Chairman, said at the press conference.
The ILS CAT (II) has however become fully operational at the IGI airport from this winter, H.S. Khola, DGCA, said. Last year, an unprecedented number of flights were delayed and cancelled due to the fog. IA records show that nearly 20 per cent of the total flights in December last year and January this year were delayed.
Visibility is down to half
The blinding smog which threw road and air traffic out of gear last winter is back. Since Tuesday, the city has been under the thickest smog cover of the season. Visibility dropped to 500 metres on Tuesday night as against 1 km under normal conditions. On Wednesday there was a slight improvement in the situation. But the bad news is that the prevailing atmospheric conditions are likely to continue for another couple of days.
S.C. Gupta, director, India Meteorological Department, attributed the dense smog cover to the rise in moisture level in the Capital. In the last few days, the moisture level in the lowest level of air has risen from 75 per cent to 95 per cent.
Secondly, there is a vast difference in temperature of ground (which is at 10 degree C) and that of the lowest air level (17 degree C). This has accelerated the inversion activity in which the gases, dust and suspended pollutants, along with moisture, get trapped between the ground the lowest level of air causing thick smog. As a result, visibility drops drastically endangering safe road and air traffic.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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