North India is in the grip of a dense fog. It is difficult to see clearly beyond one kilometre. This has brought all traffic to a standstill. The frosty winds blowing through the Himachal peaks have heightened the bitter cold. The fog is not leaving any person untroubled.
It has always been hard to put in plain words what exactly foggy weather is. It is a thick cloud of tiny water droplets suspended in the atmosphere near the earth’s surface. It affects visibility to a greater extent than mist, restricting it to below 1 kilometre.
This low-lying watery cloud has affected many human activities. Along with that, the lack of visibility is more like a curse than a slight annoyance during the winter. Fog continues to severely affect states like Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, New Delhi and Rajasthan. Flights are badly affected due to poor visibility and travelling by land – whether by walking, or by cars and trains – is also not a feasible option.
Accidents are common during such weather. Students are not able to attend schools. Holidays have been extended in various schools in Uttar Pradesh and other states. The intense fog and the cold have adversely affected our routine lives. Power supply has also been disrupted on account of this condition. Power cuts are occurring daily. The temperature keeps falling and respite from fog is also not being forecast.
Amidst all this, a few convicts took advantage of the fog and fled from Mathura’s jail on December 1, 2018. The convicts – Sheria alias Kalua, Sanjay and Rahul – found an opportunity to run away in the dense cover of the fog. According to the police, they were arrested under the Gangster Act. The search operations were also underway.