IMD issues 3-day ‘orange’ alert in 17 districts

Hisar, January 13

The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an orange alert for most towns of the state for the next three days as extreme cold conditions and fog continue to sweep the region. The lowest minimum temperature of 1.8°C was reported at Bawal in Rewari district, while the maximum temperature of 21.5°C was reported in Faridabad.

The IMD, however, has issued an orange alert for dense to very dense fog and cold to severe cold in about 17 districts of the state for January 14, 15 and 16. A yellow alert for dense fog and cold wave has been issued for Yamunanagar, Rohtak, Sonepat and Panipat districts.

A shopkeeper, Radhey Shyam, at a Hisar vegetable market said the sale of fruits like kinnow had dropped significantly due to the cold. “The footfall of customers in the subzi mandi has dropped, which has reduced the sale of fruits. Many fruit vendors have started selling groundnuts, etc., which are in high demand,” he said.

Anil Bainda, a farmer of Kabrel village, said though the cold wave was good for wheat crop, mustard crop could suffer damage if the cold conditions persisted. Frost would damage the mustard plants, which were in flowering stage, he said.

The IMD has advised farmers to give light and frequent irrigation to protect the crop from cold conditions. “Farmers can apply irrigation and spray fertiliser on wheat as per crop requirement,” it said. In the advisory for mustard farmers, it asked the farmers to not allow water to stagnate in the fields, else plants would die. “In areas where stem rot disease occurs every year, spray Carbendazim at the rate of 0.1%, 45-50 days after sowing, and the second spraying at the rate of 0.1% should be undertaken after 65-70 days,” it stated.

The farmers were also advised to keep monitoring the fields for white rust disease.The IMD asked cattle-rearing farmers to protect animals from the cold because it would affect milk production.