Mumbai wakes up to blanket of dense fog, local trains suffer delays

Several local trains were running behind schedule leading to sporadic incidents of protest. Railway officials have blamed poor visibility and urged commuters to have patience.

At a time when fog is quite common in several north Indian cities, Mumbai basks under bright sunshine. Saturday was a grim tale however as the Maximum City too was engulfed in dense fog with visibility dropping in several areas of the city.

Dense fog was reported from several areas like Wadala and Sion, and temperatures too registered a dip.  While airport authorities had to put special measures in place to assist landing, several local trains were running behind schedule. "There is dense fog in suburban section beyond Kalyan, visibility is poor hence the delay in trains," said Sunil Udasi, CPRO, Central Railways.

Several trains are running behind schedule by as much as 40 minutes. There have been reports of some commuters resorting to protests which have forced authorities to appeal for patience.

Several areas in the city also registered high pollution levels. Bandra, for instance, had an Air Quality Index (AQI) reading of 178 which falls in the 'Very Unhealthy' category.

Many local residents questioned the falling air quality and compared the conditions to Delhi where high pollution levels had darkened the skyline for most of last month.

Weather monitoring stations though predicted that the sky would clear up by early afternoon leading to better visibility.