Heavy fog disrupts air, rail and road travel

RAWALPINDI/KARACHI: Foggy weather conditions and poor visibility continued to disrupt air, railway and road traffic across the country on Tuesday as four inbound international flights were diverted to Islamabad from Lahore, Faisalabad and Sialkot, while several trains got delayed in reaching their destinations.

According to a spokesman for the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight PK-248 from Dammam to Lahore, PK-224 from Dubai to Faisalabad, PK-716 from Madina to Lahore via Karachi and PK-244 from Dammam to Sialkot were diverted to Islamabad International Airport (IIAP) due to bad weather.

The spokesman said visibility at Multan airport was poor until 2:30pm and that at Allama Iqbal airport in Lahore until 4pm. He advised the passengers to check with their airlines for any updates before leaving for the airport. The passengers can visit www.caapakistan.com.pk or call 114, 0800 00114 and 111 222 114 for flight enquiries, he said.

Trains delayed

Due to heavy fog and haze in the cities up north, several trains were delayed in reaching Karachi on Tuesday. Pakistan Express reached Karachi at 3.10pm instead of 1.30pm, Pak Business Express, which was scheduled to arrive at 4pm reached 4.45pm, Khyber Mail reached at 11pm instead of 10.15pm and Sukkur Express reached at 12.15am instead of its scheduled time of 11.15pm.

Four flights diverted to Islamabad, several trains delayed, motorways closed for traffic

Pakistan Railways apologised to travellers for the delays and assured them that all other trains would reach Karachi on time.

Motorways closed

The thick fog badly affected the flow of road traffic in several cities, adds PPI.

According to a motorway spokesperson, Motorway (M1) section from Peshawar Toll Plaza to Rashakai Interchange in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, M2 from Lahore to Kot Momin, Lahore-Multan Motorway (M3) from Faizpur to Darkhana, M4 from Shershah to Abdul Hakim, M5 from Shershah to Hazirpir and M11 from Lahore to Sambrial have been closed for all kinds of traffic.

The motorway police asked the drivers to use Grand Trunk (GT) Road for travelling. They also urged the travellers to drive slowly and switch on fog lights.

The people have been requested to avoid unnecessary travelling. Dense fog and low visibility also disrupted traffic at several places on the national highway.

Published in Dawn, December 28th, 2022