Dense fog blanketed Gurugram on Wednesday morning, lowering visibility and bringing site visitors to a standstill on a number of main roads for almost two hours. The Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway was the worst affected, notably the stretch between Kherki Daula toll plaza and Vatika Chowk and the defunct Sirhaul toll plaza to Iffco Chowk, site visitors police mentioned.
The climate division has forecast shallow fog for the day. (PTI picture)
The foggy situations additionally brought on an accident in Sector 102/103, the place an SUV collided with an electrical pole. No accidents had been reported, however the car sustained injury. The pole, standing unattended in the midst of the highway after building by the Gurugram Metropolitan Improvement Authority (GMDA), has been a persistent hazard.
“Amid the season’s first thick fog, a car hit the pole due to low visibility. Fortunately, no one was hurt, but GMDA and HVPNL must urgently relocate this pole to prevent fatalities,” mentioned Sunil Sareen, a resident of Imperial Backyard in Sector 102 and deputy convenor of the Dwarka Expressway Group Improvement Authority (DXPGDA).
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On the site visitors entrance, commuters confronted delays on Sohna Street, Golf Course Extension Street, the Delhi-Jaipur Expressway, and the Southern Peripheral Street (SPR).
“It took me over two hours to cover a route that usually takes 30 minutes. Driving was extremely difficult in such dense fog,” mentioned Vinod Sharma, a resident of DLF 5.
Kanchan Lakra, who travels day by day to Cyber Metropolis, added, “Visibility on Golf Course Extension Road was almost zero. I had to drive at 20 km/h, and even then, it felt risky. My entire schedule was disrupted.”
Site visitors police suggested commuters to train warning, keep low speeds, and use fog lights. Heavy autos had been urged to keep away from peak-hour routes to ease congestion.
Vikas Kumar, assistant commissioner of police (site visitors headquarters), mentioned that extra deployment of site visitors police personnel has been made close to key roundabouts and toll plaza even trying on the poor visibility and fog.
“Our deployment in normal times remains from 8am to 8pm. But right now, deployment has also been for the whole night. We have started this deployment from November 1 anticipating that visibility will decrease sharply soon which happened on Tuesday night,” he mentioned.
Kumar mentioned that deployment of site visitors police personnel has been deployed at Sirhaul toll plaza, Shankar chowk, Rajiv Chowk, Manesar, Bandhwari toll plaza and several other different areas with reflector, lights and different security tools.
“Personnel on ambulances and cranes will also remain alert looking at poor visibility to give assistance to police and injured persons in case of any accident,” he added.
In the meantime, India Meteorological Division (IMD) officers mentioned that the fog and poor visibility situations will proceed for now.
“Dense fog had started appearing in western Punjab four days back and now it has spread up to Uttar Pradesh along with covering Gurugram and neighbouring areas,” an IMD official mentioned.
They mentioned that the foggy situations will persist for the subsequent 4 days per their forecast and the minimal temperature may additionally dip sharply.
The Gurugram Police, in collaboration with civic authorities, assured residents that each one mandatory measures are being taken to make sure highway security in the course of the foggy season.