New Delhi: Dense fog over large parts of
north India today played havoc with air, rail and road traffic
while intense chill slightly abated in Rajasthan and Jammu and
Kashmir even as cold related deaths claimed 480 lives so far
this winter.
Heavy fog disrupted flight operations and movement of
trains and vehicles as poor visibility affected the schedules
of around 80 flights at the IGI airport in the national
capital.
Dense fog enveloped Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh
reducing visibility to near zero.
While, trains bound for Amritsar, Pathankot, Bathinda,
Ferozepur and Chandigarh ran hours behind schedule, flights
failed to take off from Chandigarh and Amritsar airports.
The minimum temperature hovered between one and five
degrees Celsius below normal in the region with Amritsar being
the coldest place with a low of minus one deg C. Chandigarh
settled at a low of 5.1 deg C.
People in Ladakh had some respite from cold wave today,
though the rest of Jammu and Kashmir reeled under intense
chill.
Ladakh, which recorded a drop in night temperature,
experienced snowfall this morning. Leh registered a low of
minus 7 deg C, while Kargil recorded minus 8 deg C.
Night temperature further dipped by a few notches in
Srinagar which recorded a low of minus 2.9 deg C.
Pahalgam, a hill resort in south Kashmir, recorded a low
of minus 4 deg C today against minus 3.6 deg C yesterday.
Jammu recorded a low of 4.6 deg C, nearly four degrees
below normal.
In Himachal Pradesh, the weather remained pleasant in
Shimla in the absence of rain or snow but higher reaches in
the state reeled under sub zero temperatures.
Keylong, headquarters of Lahaul & Spiti district, was the
coldest place in the state with a night temperature of minus
9.9 deg C while Kalpa in Kinnaur district had night
temperature of minus 3.7 deg C. Una recorded zero deg C.
People in Rajasthan had some respite with rise in minimum
temperature in many parts of the state. Mount Abu recorded 2.6
deg C, while Dholpur had a low of 3.8 deg C.
Fog affected normal life and vehicular traffic on Jaipur-
Alwar, Jaipur-Delhi and Jaipur-Agra highways.
With visibility dipping to less than 20 metres in the
national capital, scheduled of around 80 domestic and
international flights were affected. As many as 65 trains ran
3 to 20 hours behind schedule while some were cancelled
because of the poor visibility.
The dense fog will continue for the next five to six days
due to "unstable weather conditions" and high humidity level,
a Met official said.
The minimum temperature was recorded at 7.2 deg C today --
up from 6.6 deg C yesterday.
PTI
First Published: Thursday, January 21, 2010, 21:23