Shimla, December 21
Higher reaches of Kinnaur and Lahual and Spiti districts in Himachal Pradesh received a fresh spell of snowfall last night, while cold wave conditions continued in the lower areas of the state.
A report from Kalpa in Kinnaur district said light to moderate snowfall was continuing in the higher reaches of the district since last night and minimum temperatures had plummeted to minus 10°C.
The minimum temperature in Lahaul and Spiti district had dropped to minus 10°C after intermittent snowfall in the higher reaches last night.
However, no snowfall has been reported from any residential area of the district, official sources said, adding that the sky was overcast throughout the day, bringing a sharp drop in the night temperatures in the district.
Bhuntar in Kulu district recorded a night temperature of -0.5°C, which was two degrees below normal, while the day temperature was 14.5°C.
The minimum temperature of Shimla dropped to 3.3°C today, which was one degree below normal. Yesterday, the town had recorded a low of 4.6°C.
The Met Office has predicted light to moderate snowfall in higher reaches and widespread
rainfall in the lower areas of the state.
AMRITSAR: Dense fog has engulfed the holy city of Amritsar throwing normal life out of gear even as three persons were killed in a road accident while several flights were either cancelled or diverted.
The chill has left many suffering from cold, cough, viral fever and asthmatic attacks .
The vigil on the Indo-Pak border has been tightened due to poor visibility conditions. Apprehension, of infiltration have increased, say officials supervising the border operations.
Poor visibility has disrupted flight schedules too. The Indian Airlines flight from Sharjah as also the Air Deccan’s flight from Delhi, besides Air India’s Delhi-Amritsar flight, failed to land here due to the dense fog.
Flights of Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Slovakia airlines were refused landing permission. The Air-India’s New Delhi-Amritsar-Birmingham-Toronto flight somehow managed to land here in its fifth attempt.
Three persons were killed on the Chogwan road, about 30 km from the city, this morning in an accident. They were riding on a motorbike when a head-on collusion occurred with a truck due to dense fog. According to reports, the three were killed instantly. The driver of the truck has been booked.
The recent dense fog, coupled with sub-zero temperatures during late evening, has caused a number of accidents.
For students, the early school/educational institutes timings were also causing inconvenience and anxiety.
The sting of the chilly winter has resulted in larger consumption of electricity or gas in form of geysers, heaters, blowers or conditioners .
The city has often hogged the limelight for reporting lowest temperatures in the entire northern region below even many hill stations in Himachal Pardesh and Jammu and Kashmir.
CHANDIGARH: The current spell of cold wave claimed yet another life in the region this time in Batala town of Punjab, even as a thick blanket of fog affected normal life at many places in North India today.
A migrant labourer identified as Ram Din from Madhya Pradesh’s Harjoi district died due to cold, a report from Batala said here.
With this, the cold wave has so far claimed nine lives — seven in Punjab and two in Haryana — in the region.
Meanwhile, the current spell of cold wave relented a bit in Haryana, but most Punjab towns continued to face its onslaught, with Amritsar once again turning out to be the coldest zone at 0.8°C.
The low at Chandigarh increased by three degrees since yesterday at 7.6°C, which was a degree above the normal range.
Delhi and most Haryana towns also witnessed slight increase in the minimum temperatures. While the low at the national capital was recorded at 5.7°C, the minimum at Ambala settled at 6°C. Hisar had a low of 7.2°C and the low at Karnal was 6 C.
Srinagar
residents in Kashmir Valley continued to face piercing cold and the minimum there was recorded at 3.9 C below the freezing point.
In the hills, Shimla (3.3°C), Bhuntar (-0.5°C) and Sundernagar (3.6°C) in Himachal Pradesh had cold nights.
A report from Sonepat said that at least eight passengers suffered injuries in different road accidents which occurred in the district today on account of poor visibility due to thick blanket of fog.
