M A I N   N E W S

Cold wave tightens grip
Tribune News Service & PTI

Srinagar, January 8
The freezing cold, coupled with disruption in power and drinking water supplies and icy road surfaces, affected normal life for the eighth consecutive day here today.

Most parts of the major tourist attraction, the Dal Lake here, continue to be frozen under overcast skies, leading to thickening of the icy layer over its surface, which might end in complete freezing of the lake in case of continuance of the present weather conditions.

The authorities cautioned people and particularly children not to venture out on the icy surface of the Dal Lake, which might prove hazardous.

Other lakes across the Kashmir valley, including Wular and Mansbal in north Kashmir and others in upper reaches, had also frozen due to the low temperatures, leading to a decline in water level in rivers.

The night temperature continued to vary between —2°C and —5°C and the day temperature was less than 2°C.

This dampened the shopping spirit of the people ahead of the Id-ul-Azha, being celebrated on Wednesday.

“There is hardly anyone wanting to come out of his house due to the bitter cold,” said a shopkeeper here.

The power supply that was disrupted due to the damage to the 132 KV and 220 KV transmission lines, supplying electricity to the mountain-locked Kashmir, had been fully restored.

According to officials here, the 132 KV transmission line was restored on Thursday while the 220 KV Kishenpur-Pampore transmission line, passing through high altitude along the sides of the Srinagar-Jammu national highway, was restored last evening.

The police intensified patrolling along the banks of the Dal Lake to keep people away from venturing onto the frozen parts of the water body here. River police personnel were seen making rounds and detaining people for violating the warnings and venturing onto the frozen parts of the lake.

Chandigarh: Records continued to tumble for the second day today as the ongoing cold wave sweeping most parts of north India claimed yet another life in Punjab, taking the death toll due to cold in the region to 22.

Adampur in Jalandhar district continued to be the coldest place in the plains, recording a low of minus 2.2°C. Cold claimed the life of an unidentified middle-aged man, presumed to be a beggar, in Hoshiarpur district yesterday.

Barring Shimla, which recorded a five-degrees -above-normal low at 6.2°C, the minimum temperatures at many places in the region further nosedived.

While Delhi residents braved the coldest day in many decades as the low dipped to 0.2°C seven degrees below normal, Karnal was the coldest place in Haryana as it shivered at 0.1°C, down eight degrees, Meteorological Department sources here said, adding that the it was the lowest temperature in nearly two decades.

Chandigarh also continued to be unusually cold. The minimum here plummeted to 1.3°C, down six degrees as the UT recorded its coldest day of the season so far.

Amritsar, which along with Adampur turns out to be the coldest place in Punjab, today recorded a sub-zero low of 0.3°C, down four degrees. Patiala was even colder at minus 0.5°C, down seven degrees below normal.

Ludhiana also got no respite from the biting cold conditions as the low tumbled to 1.1°C, down five degrees.

Among other places in Haryana, Hisar had a cold night at 2.1°C, down three degrees, while Ambala registered a minimum of 3.1°C, four degrees below normal.

Bhuntar and Sundernagar in Himachal Pradesh also registered below normal minimums at 0°C and 1°C, respectively. According to the Met office here, fog reduced visibility at places, including Udhampur and Halwara (zero visibility), Pathankot (500 m), Ambala (800 m), Sirsawa (800 m) and Palam (500 m).

Karnal: All private and government schools in Karnal district have been closed by the district administration from January 9 to 12 in view of the prevailing intense cold wave. Stating this in a press note, the Deputy Commissioner said in case of violation of these orders, a case would be registered against the head master of the school concerned under Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code.

Delhi coldest in 70 years

New Delhi, January 8
The Capital woke up today to the coldest day in over 70 years with a minimum temperature dipping sharply to 0.2°C.

JAIPUR: Rajasthan faced its coldest day in 27 years as minimum temperatures swooped to — 3°C, 2°C and 1°C in Churu, Pilani and Sriganganagar, respectively. — PTI