New Delhi: Chandigarh saw its coldest day in seven years, fog hit air and rail services in Uttar Pradesh and the mercury remained below zero degrees in the Kashmir Valley, Ladakh and upper Himachal as most parts of north India shivered in extreme cold conditions on Monday.
Cold winds and heavy fog disrupted rail, air and road traffic across Uttar Pradesh. The state ordered the closure of all educational institutions for two more days until January 13.
As many as two dozen trains were running 5 to 26 hours late on account of the adverse weather conditions, while three Delhi-bound trains, including the Kashi Vishwanath Express that travels between New Delhi and Varanasi, were cancelled. The platforms were overcrowded as passengers waited for hours at end for their trains.
"It is beyond our control...trains are getting stuck on account of sudden dense fog at many places during the night," a railway officer said.
While Mirzapur recorded the state's lowest temperature at 4.2 degrees Celsius, the mercury dipped to 7.1 degrees in state capital Lucknow, Met director (Lucknow) R.K. Gupta told IANS.
It was far colder in the Kashmir valley and in Ladakh.
"The minimum temperature in Srinagar was minus 4.2 degrees Celsius while it was minus 20 degrees in Leh town (in Ladakh)," said an official at the weather office in Srinagar.
The 40-day period from Dec 21 to Jan 31, called 'Chilla Kalan' by Kashmiris, is the coldest time of the year in the valley.
Chandigarh, the capital of Punjab and Haryana, recorded the coldest day in seven years with the maximum temperature dipping to 9.4 degrees Celsius and the minimum to 5.9 degrees.
"This is the lowest maximum temperature that we have recorded in the last seven years. In 2003, we had recorded a maximum temperature at 8 degrees Celsius," a Met official said.
The city administration extended the winter holidays of primary classes till Jan 13 due to the extreme cold.
The Sikh holy city Amritsar registered the coldest day in Punjab, with a minimum temperature of minus 1.2 degrees Celsius, three degrees below average. Most parts of Punjab witnessed intense fog early morning and a few areas saw a light drizzle as well.
The cold wave, which has claimed 30 lives in Bihar so far, led to authorities in state capital Patna extending the closure of all public and private schools till Tuesday.
The schools were originally scheduled to reopen Jan 4 after Christmas holidays but cold wave conditions compelled authorities to extend their closure twice. They are now scheduled to reopen Wednesday.
Chilly northwesterly winds swept many parts of the the state. While Gaya recorded a minimum temperature of 8.3 degrees Celsius, Patna saw a low of 11.29 degrees.
The cold wave continued in the national capital too though it wasn't very foggy. New Delhi recorded a minimum of 6.5 degrees Celsius, average for this time of the year.
Visibility was normal and flights were running on time at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA).
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast partly cloudy skies and a possibility of rain in some areas.
One of the few places that saw a marginal rise in temperature was Shimla - but it was biting cold nevertheless. The higher reaches of Himachal Pradesh stayed in sub-zero conditions with Keylong being the coldest at minus 12.1 degrees Celsius.
"Shimla witnessed a minimum temperature of 6.2 degrees Celsius compared to Sunday's 5.1 degrees Celsius," Manmohan Singh, director of the meteorological office in Shimla, told IANS.
He said Shimla's minimum temperature was four degrees above average for this time of the year.
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