As cold wave and dense fog tighten their grip on northern India, the Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) issued fresh guidelines on Thursday restricting passenger bus operations during low visibility conditions.
UPSRTC officials said that buses should not operate in case of poor visibility due to fog. The corporation also advised operators to park buses at safe locations and wait until visibility improves.
Staff deployed at bus stands have been instructed to monitor the condition of major routes and alert operators as and when needed. They are also instructed to prevent operators from running buses until visibility conditions improve, said officials.
This comes after a series of accidents reported in different parts of the state on Wednesday due to fog and low visibility conditions.
A dense layer of fog on the Agra-Lucknow expressway and low visibility led to a massive collision of vehicles, causing injuries to several commuters on Wednesday. At least seven to eight vehicles collided near the Jharna Nala flyover.
In another incident in Uttar Pradesh’s Raebareli, a high-speed truck rammed into a house on the Bareli-Sultanpur Highway due to dense fog. No injuries were reported, but there was a loss of property, as informed by an eyewitness.
Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department has issued an alert regarding the expected impact due to dense to very dense fog in the night/morning hours over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, and Uttar Pradesh from the night of December 28 to the morning of December 30.
The IMD earlier today released satellite images showing the extension of the fog layer (grey-coloured part) seen from Punjab to East Uttar Pradesh across Haryana-Delhi, West Uttar Pradesh, extreme north Rajasthan & north Madhya Pradesh from December 27 to 5:30 am on December 28.
The IMD has also issued a dense fog Advisory for Punjab, Haryana, Delhi Uttar Pradesh, north Rajasthan & north Madhya Pradesh.
As per the advisory, the public is advised to be careful while driving or outing through any transport.
The public is also advised to use fog lights while driving and those planning travel by air or rail are advised to be in touch with airlines, railways and state transport for a schedule of the journey.
