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Dense fog hits rail, air services
Tribune News Service & Agencies

Home Guard jawan killed Dal Lake freezes Life paralysed in valley

Chandigarh, January 4
Many parts of north-west India were in the grip of renewed cold wave today following a drastic fall in the night temperature as low clouds and a thick fog engulfed the plains, reducing visibility considerably and affecting road, rail and air services in the region.

Icy winds swept Chandigarh and most parts of the region as certain lower areas in Himachal Pradesh had rain.

Dense fog enveloped several areas in the region, reducing visibility to zero to Sirsa and Udhampur, followed by Palam in Delhi (50 metres), Ambala (100 metres), Pathankot (200 metres), Sarsawa and Chandigarh (300 metres each), Amritsar (400 metres), Halwara, Jammu and Suratgarh (500 metres each) and Hindon (800 metres).

Several long distance trains were running behind schedule due to fog. Indian Airlines and Jet Airways flights to Chandigarh were cancelled for the second day on Wednesday due to bad weather in the union territory.

It was biting cold in Chandigarh as the temperature dipped to 6.8°C from 11°C recorded yesterday. The city remained engulfed in fog throughout the day.

The cold wave renewed in Punjab and Haryana with the temperature plummeting in these states. In Punjab, the minimum temperature dipped by 4.8°C at Patiala and 3.6°C at Ludhiana, respectively, recording 7.0°C and 6.4°C. Amritsar also registered a fall in the minimum temperature to 5°C from 6°C recorded yesterday.

Haryana recorded a sharp decline in the temperature as low clouds hung over several areas. Hisar at 4.1°C, one degree below normal, was the coldest in the state.

As many as 12 persons have already died in the current spell of coldwave in Punjab and Haryana and nine others have died in fog-related incidents.

There was no let-up in the coldwave lashing Himachal Pradesh. People groaned under intense cold in the tribal areas and mid hills. Shimla recorded 2.7°C. Certain areas in the state, including Bhuntar, Sundernagar, Pandoh, Suni and Shimla experienced rain.

The entire Kashmir valley reeled under the piercing cold weather condition.

Met office has predicted light to moderate rain or snow at a few places in Himachal Pradesh while the weather will remain dry in Punjab and Haryana with low clouds and fog over these states in the next 48 hours.

RECKONG PEO: A Home Guard jawan was found dead outside his house at Dunni village today. This is the second death due to heavy snowfall in the past 48 hours in Kinnaur district.

On Monday, a resident of Pooh had died when his Gypsy skid due to heavy snow near Dubling village in Pooh subdivision.

Mr T.C. Negi, District Commandant, Home Guards, said the jawan had been identified as Ram pal and he had gone on leave after duty last evening.

Meanwhile, the 68 RCC of the General Reserve Engineering Force (GREF), a sister concern of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), restored road link on National Highway-22 from Wangtoo to Reckong Peo, today.

This stretch of the NH-22 had been blocked at various points since Monday due to heavy snowfall followed by landslides.

There was no snowfall today in Reckong Peo and its adjoining areas but intermittent rain lashed the region.

However, all link roads to Sangla Valley, upper areas of Kinnaur and Spiti valley are still blocked.

In Srinagar the Dal Lake froze partially after the overnight temperature dipped to -3.6°C, official sources said on Wednesday.

The lake froze at many places with the thickness of the ice varying between 20 cm at the banks and 6 cm towards the middle of the lake.

Life in the valley remained paralysed as there was total power failure, water shortage and roads were snow-bound.

As the minimum temperature dipped, it was yet another dark night for the people of Kashmir valley, including Srinagar as the Power Development Department (PDD) failed to restore power supply that had snapped due to heavy snowfall on Monday. However, power supply to essential services was restored yesterday afternoon.

Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, who rushed here from Delhi to take stock of the situation following the first heavy snowfall of the season, directed the PDD officials to restore the power supply immediately.

People at Badshah Chowk near here took to streets protesting against continued power failure.

Power failure has also hit water supply as most of the filtration plants have no power generator to lift the water to the plants.