M A I N   N E W S

Cold kills 4 in North; Punjab, Haryana shiver

Chandigarh, December 26
Four persons died due to extreme cold in North India where temperatures plummeted and fog disrupted normal life. In Delhi, the maximum temperature was recorded at 18.3°C, two less than normal and the minimum temperature was 7.8°C.

One person succumbed to severe cold wave conditions in Hoshiarpur district of Punjab. Opinder Bedi, a resident of Jharkhand, died due to severe cold at Tanda yesterday.

In Uttar Pradesh, three persons died in the past 24 hours taking the toll this season to 21. One death each was reported in Lalitpur, Gorakhpur and Muzaffar Nagar, official sources said here today. Lowest temperature in the state was 3.2°C recorded at Fatehgarh.

The cold wave tightened its grip over Punjab and Haryana, with the mercury dropping to as much as five notches below normal in various parts of the region. Bone-chilling cold weather disrupted normal life in the two states while poor visibility due to the dense fog saw train and flight schedules hit by long delays and even cancellation of services. The fog also affected road traffic, causing inconvenience to commuters.

The Met department said that foggy conditions would for now continue to prevail in various parts of Punjab and Haryana. — PTI

J&K braces for more snow

The weather office has forecast rain and snowfall in Jammu and Kashmir during the next few days. Sonam Lotus, director of the weather office, said: "Light snowfall is likely in Srinagar on Friday while moderate snowfall is expected in the mountains from the evening of Thursday till the morning of Saturday. The minimum temperature on Wednesday was -2.9°C in Srinagar, -6.5 in Pahalgam, -7 in Gulmarg, -13.8 in Leh and -15.4°C in Kargil town.”