Winter made a grand, albeit disruptive, entrance this morning as the first major fog of the season paralyzed one of India’s busiest highway stretches.
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The Visibility Crisis: By 5:30 AM, visibility on the GT Road plummeted. The stretch near Murthal (Sonipat), Panipat Toll, and the Pipli (Kurukshetra) flyover was the worst hit, with drivers reporting that they could barely see the taillights of vehicles 50 meters ahead.
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Traffic Impact: The timing of the fog coincided with the Saturday weekend rush. Thousands of tourists heading toward Kurukshetra for the Gita Mahotsav were caught in crawling traffic. Long-haul trucks were seen lined up at roadside dhabas, waiting for the sun to break through the haze.
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Police Measures: Highway patrol teams were deployed with reflectors and sirens to guide traffic. “We have requested all drivers to keep their hazard lights on and maintain a safe following distance. Speeding in these conditions is a recipe for disaster,” said a senior traffic official in Karnal.
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Met Office Forecast: The IMD (India Meteorological Department) stated that a combination of high humidity and falling night temperatures triggered this “Radiation Fog.” Similar conditions are expected to persist for the next 48 hours during the late-night and early-morning windows.
