The intense cold sweeping through north India tightened its grip further on Sunday, with parts of Rajasthan experiencing sub-zero temperatures and the mercury dropping to below 3 degrees Celsius in some places in Delhi for the first time this season.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said the spell of extreme cold was likely to continue for the next few days, with severe cold wave conditions expected in isolated parts of northern India.
Some places in Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand also recorded temperatures below zero degrees Celsius and the mercury hovered close to the freezing point in Punjab and Haryana. Cold to severe cold wave conditions were recorded at isolated places in parts of Rajasthan. The minimum temperature in Pratapgarh was at minus 2 degrees Celsius, while Barmer recorded a low of minus 1 degree Celsius, the local met office said.
In Punjab, Bathinda was the coldest, recording a minimum temperature of 1.6 degrees Celsius, while Hisar, at a low of 2.2 degrees Celsius, was the coldest place in Haryana. Fog reduced visibility in the morning at some places in Punjab and Haryana.
Faridkot reeled under severe chill at a minimum of 2.9 degrees Celsius, while Ludhiana, Patiala, Amritsar and Gurdaspur registered respective minimums of 4.6 degrees, 3.8 degrees, 3.2 degrees and 3.8 degrees Celsius. Chandigarh, the common capital of the two states, also experienced a cold night at 5 degrees Celsius. PTI
In Haryana, biting cold swept Narnaul, which recorded a low of 3 degrees Celsius. Ambala, Faridabad and Rohtak also reeled under piercing chill at respective minimums of 5.5 degrees, 4.2 degrees and 4 degrees Celsius.
Cold wave conditions were observed in parts of Jharkhand, as the mercury dropped below 10 degrees Celsius in eight districts of the state.
Gumla recorded the lowest temperature in the state at 2.8 degrees Celsius, followed by Palmau (Daltonganj) at 4.9 degrees Celsius and Khunti at 5.6 degrees Celsius, the IMD bulletin said. The IMD on Sunday issued a ‘yellow’ alert for cold wave conditions in parts of Jharkhand from January 13 to 16.
Schools in Jharkhand’s Ranchi district will remain closed for students up to class six till January 14 in view of the cold wave conditions, an official said. Classes from 7 to 12 will start from 10 am during the period. The IMD has predicted in its daily bulletin released on Sunday that cold wave to severe cold wave conditions are very likely to continue over Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand on January 12-13.
Dense fog conditions are very likely to continue during morning hours over northwest India and Bihar during the next five days. A man and his daughter were killed, and four others were injured when their SUV hit a container truck from behind amid dense fog and then collided with a car on the Bakhtiyarpur-Mokama highway in Patna. Cold day conditions are likely to prevail in isolated parts of Bihar till January 16, IMD said.