Fog disrupts flights across Pakistan, weather emergency declared in northwest

A woman carries a basket on her head while walking on a railway track during smog and fog conditions, in Lahore on December 27, 2020. (AFP)

• Flight schedules in Lahore, Multan, Sialkot, Faisalabad and surrounding areas to be affected in the next few days due to dense fog
• Relief, Rehabilitation and Settlement department in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province declares “extreme cold weather emergency”

Islamabad: Bad weather and heavy fog disrupted Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight operations across the country on Sunday and Monday, Pakistani media reported, while the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region declared a weather emergency.
Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper quoted PIA spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez Khan as saying flight schedules in the cities of Lahore, Multan, Sialkot, Faisalabad and surrounding areas would be disrupted in the next few days due to dense fog.
“Fight schedules may be disturbed due to winter weather conditions, causing fog and smog,” the national carrier said on Twitter, urging passengers to check the status of their flights prior to leaving for the airport.

 

Heavy fog has set in parts of Punjab causing flights disruptions due to weather. Contact our helpline [phone] for your flight status update prior to departing for the airport & update your current contact information so you may be informed well within time. #PIA pic.twitter.com/LflRKF5oRF

— PIA (@Official_PIA) December 26, 2020

In a separate development, the Relief, Rehabilitation and Settlement (RRS) department of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province declared an “extreme cold weather emergency” as rain and snowfall lashed several districts.

A man walks through a railway track after first snowfalls in Landi Kotal on December 27, 2020. (AFP)

People walk through railway tracks after first snowfalls in Landi Kotal on December 27, 2020. (AFP)

“Since an extraordinary cold wave has hit whole of the province and is likely to continue; therefore, in exercise of powers conferred under Section 16(A) (1) of National Disaster Management (KP) Act 2010, the RRS department hereby declare ‘extreme cold weather emergency’ in whole of KP with effect from December 27, 2020, till further orders,” RSS said in a notification, authorizing deputy commissioners across the province to establish temporary shelters that served breakfast and dinner to the needy and supplied them with bedding.
The notification also said people whose houses had been damaged due to weather would be provided cooked food three times a day.