New Delhi:

Dense fog and poor visibility in New Delhi caused major disruptions on Christmas morning, with 20 trains departing from the city delayed, including major services like the Mumbai Central Rajdhani Express and Dakshin Express.

The fog, coupled with the persisting cold temperature and poor visibility, added to the problems.

The trains delayed included the Mumbai Central Rajdhani express running from New Delhi to Mumbai, Durg-Hazrat Nizammudin expres running from Durg to Delhi, Dakshin express running from Delhi to Hyderabad, Duronto express and the Jabalpur-Hazrat Nizammudin Gondwana Express running from Jabalpur to Delhi among other trains.

The temperature recorded in the city was 10 degrees Celsius, according to the Indian Meteorological Department. Visibility in the city was recorded at 100 meters due to dense fog at 5:30 am.

“The temperature have dropped down a lot due to the rain that took place yesterday. We have to use bonfires to keep ourselves warm..”, a local said speaking to ANI.

Another local complained about the lack of visibility due to the fog.

Meanwhile, the AQI in the city was recorded at 333, falling under the ‘very poor’ category, as per the Central Pollution Control Board at 8 am.

The AQI measured in other areas also remained in the ‘very poor’ category. AQI in Anand Vihar was 360, 372 at Ashok Vihar, 362 at Bayana, and 324 at the CRRI Mathura Road.

An AQI between 0-50 is considered good, 51-100 is satisfactory, 101-200 is moderate, 201-300 is poor, 301-400 is very poor, and 401-500 is severe.

“The pollution and the winters both have become very harsh. It is taking a toll on people as they are suffering from breathing difficulties…” said another local.

Meanwhile, on December 24, moderate rain lashed the city further amplifying the winter chill.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

The Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) is developing an artificial intelligence-based device that would be able to read the blinking eyes of drivers and alert them or stop the train in case they are feeling sleepy, according to sources.

In June, the Railway Board had asked the NFR to develop a device that could detect the alertness of train drivers on the basis of blinking of eyes.

The device — Railway Driver Assistance System (RDAS) — will not only sound an alert but also apply emergency brakes in case a driver loses alertness for a certain period of time. RDAS will be interfaced with a vigilance control device to apply emergency brakes, the sources said.

“The device is still in the development stage and trials are on to ensure its proper functioning. The technical team of the NFR is working on it. We hope that it will be ready in another few weeks,” a railway source told PTI.

On August 2, the Railway Board wrote to the NFR and asked it to expedite the in-house development of RDAS. It also said that once the device is ready, it will be fitted in 20 goods train engines (WAG9) and passenger train engines (WAP7) as a pilot project.

All the zones have also been asked to provide their feedback on the working of the system after using it so that further improvements can be made to it if needed.

The Indian Railway Loco Runningmen Organisation (IRLRO), however, dubbed the device a “futile exercise”, saying that all fast-moving trains already have mechanisms to keep drivers alert.

“Every high-speed train engine comes with a foot-operated lever (pedal) which a driver needs to hit once every 60 seconds. In case, the driver fails to do so, emergency brakes are applied automatically and the train comes to a halt. The present system is good enough to ensure that the driver is alert,” said IRLRO working president Sanjay Pandhi.

“I believe RDAS is a futile exercise. If the railways is really serious about the safety of train operations, it should, among other things, conduct studies on aspects such as fatigue, running hours, facilities and rest hours of train drivers.

“In many cases, drivers, including women, do not get any breaks for having food or answering nature’s calls during their over 11-hour duty. If these things are well taken care of, there is no need to have any RADS in engines,” Pandhi said. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)