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Cold wave continues to sweep North India, traffic hit
New Delhi: There seems to be no let-up in severe cold wave sweeping across northern India for the last two weeks, with mercury plummeting below ten degrees in most parts of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttaranchal and Delhi. In the national capital, the mercury on Thursday plummeted to five degree Celsius, one degree down from Tuesday night. Ankit Sharma, a college-goer in Delhi said, "The only respite from the cold is to wear four to five woollens. But these make my travelling in already over-crowded buses an uncomfortable journey". "Offices should condone late comers. Vehicular traffic becomes slow due to fog in the mornings," said an office-goer Indu Sharma. Mothers express their concern for children on reopening of schools as winter break gets over. "I am worried that my children will have to go to school from tomorrow in this cold weather. Schools should consider extending the winter break for at least one more week, " said Shefali Upadhyay.
Meanwhile, the Meteorological Department has forecast the chilly winds to persist for a few more days. According to the Met office, chilly winds are a direct off-shoot of western disturbances and snowfall in several parts of North India. In Delhi, the weatherman has predicted a clear sky for the next 24 hours but the minimum temperature could further fall to four degree Celsius. Icy winds from Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh swept north India bringing fog, which continued to disrupt normal life.
Nearly 20 flights were delayed or cancelled after the visibility on the runway at Indira Gandhi International Airport here was reduced to 225 metres at 8.30 am (IST) on Thursday morning. Six Air Sahara flights, including S2 101 to Mumbai, S2 121 to Bangalore, S2 612 to Lucknow, S2 141 to Chennai and S2 131 to Pune were delayed. Four Air Deccan flights --DN 625 to Srinagar, DN 661 to Bangalore, DN 619 to Bangalore and DN 601 to Jaipur-- were also cancelled. Many long distance trains entering north India were reported to be running late by one to seven hours. Traffic movement on roads was also badly affected due to fog and visibility on National Highway number one and state highways has been reduced affecting the traffic movement badly.
Border
Roads Organisation managed to clear Srinagar-Jammu highway of several
feet of snow restoring it partially. Ambala in Haryana turned out to be
the coldest place as the maximum temperature plummetted to 11 degree Celsius,
down ten degrees. Chandigarh turned out to be colder than Shimla as the
maximum here dipped by a record nine degrees below normal at 11.4 degree
Celsius. Shimla recorded a high of 13.3 degree Celsius. The Metrological
Department has forecast that a few places in Himachal Pradesh will receive
light to moderate rain or snow. Over the next two days in Haryana many
places will have fog and low clouds and ground frost is likely at isolated
places in Punjab.
-Jan 5, 2006
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