Cold keeps its grip on north India

IANS/New Delhi

A severe cold wave persisted in north India yesterday as many places recorded temperatures below the freezing point and a thick fog affected train services. However, Delhi and Shimla witnessed a rise in mercury.It was the second consecutive day when the national capital saw a rise in the day and night temperatures, bringing some respite to the city’s 10.2mn people. The minimum temperature settled two notches below average at 5.2 degrees Celsius; on Tuesday it was 4.1 degrees. The maximum temperature was recorded at 23.9 degrees, which too was higher than Tuesday’s 22.3 degrees Celsius.A thick layer of fog enveloped the national capital yesterday morning, affecting the running of at least 51 trains - 27 were cancelled and 24 were disrupted as fog reduced visibility to 200m.Severe cold wave conditions continued unabated across the Kashmir Valley and the Ladakh region as night temperatures remained below the freezing point. Leh recorded a minimum of minus 16 degrees.“The night temperature was minus 3.4 degrees Celsius in Srinagar,” meteorological office director Sonam Lotus said in Srinagar.“It was minus 7 degrees in south Kashmir’s Pahalgam hill station, minus 8.2 degrees in north Kashmir’s Gulmarg ski resort, minus 5.2 degrees in Qazigund town, minus 3.5 degrees in Kupwara town and minus 4.6 degrees in Kokernag town,” he said.“Leh town in Ladakh region was the coldest at minus 16 degrees while Kargil town had minus 15 degrees,” he added. Most of the lakes and water bodies in the valley were frozen at the margins yesterday morning, making boating and rowing difficult for fishermen and Shikara operators.But the cold wave slightly eased its grip in Himachal Pradesh capital Shimla with the minimum temperature rising to 4.6 degrees from Tuesday’s 3.6 degrees. The maximum was 15.1 degrees. But most parts of the state saw sub-zero minimum temperatures.The night temperature in Keylong, the headquarters of Lahaul and Spiti district, was minus 6.4 degrees.Punjab’s Amritsar city recorded a low of minus 1.4 degrees, four degrees below normal. The maximum was 19.7 degrees.In neighbouring Haryana, Hisar was the coldest with a low of 1.1 degrees. It recorded a maximum of 17 degrees.The state education department announced a change in the timings for schools due to the cold wave. Haryana Education Minister Geeta Bhukkal said classes would now be held from 9am to 3.30pm until January 31.Agra was the coldest city in Uttar Pradesh yesterday with the minimum and maximum temperatures of 2 and 19.8 degrees respectively. But this did not deter the admirers of the Taj Mahal from visiting the white marble monument. Ticket sales crossed 35,000.