Severe cold, fog hit normal life in parts of north India


Severe cold and fog on Wednesday badly hit normal life in parts of Punjab, Haryana Chandigarh and Uttar Pradesh where severe chill claimed 23 more lives while poor visibility affected the schedules of 60 domestic and international flights and over 50 trains.

As many as 480 cold-related deaths have been reported so far, with Uttar Pradesh alone accounting for 451 casualties.

There was no respite from biting cold conditions for the people of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh where dense fog threw normal life out of gear. Air and rail traffic remained the worst hit.

While no flight could operate in Chandigarh due to poor visibility, several trains in the region ran late due to fog.

Vehicular traffic on many state and national highways was also affected as visibility dropped considerably.

Amritsar registered a low of 0.6 deg C, three degrees below normal, while Patiala experienced a cold night at 5.4 deg C. Ludhiana settled at 5.7 deg C. Chandigarh recorded a low of 5.5 deg C. In Haryana, Ambala experienced 4.2 deg C.

In Rajasthan, Mount Abu was the coldest place with a low of 1 deg C on Tuesday night, though other places in the state had relatively warmer days.

The sky remained cloudy in most parts of Jammu and Kashmir. Ladakh region in Jammu and Kashmir recorded minus 14 deg C while Kargil had a minimum of minus 10 deg C. Srinagar had a low of minus 2.2 deg C while winter capital Jammu recorded 4.2 deg C.