The Hindu : Front Page : Icy day in North India; 2.6 in Delhi

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Tuesday, Jan 09, 2007
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Icy day in North India; 2.6 in Delhi

Water taps freeze in Kashmir and Rajasthan; two more die in Uttar Pradesh

NEW DELHI: Icy winds blew across North India on Monday claiming two more lives and throwing normal life out of gear at many places.

Water taps froze in Kashmir and Rajasthan as people huddled round bonfires and took recourse to heavy woollens to beat the cold wave sweeping the region.

Delhi experienced the season's coldest day so far with the mercury plunging to a low of 2.6 degrees Celsius, four notches below normal, and the weatherman promising no relief for the next few days.

The day's two fresh fatalities occurred in Uttar Pradesh raising the death count from the severe chill this winter to 43.

The Taj city of Agra was the coldest place in the State recording a low of 3.2 degrees C followed by Bareilly and Sultanpur (5.2 degrees each).

A thick layer of fog covered several areas creating traffic jams on roads and affecting movement of trains that ran several hours behind schedule. However, air traffic operated normally thanks to clear skies.

Icy winds lashed Rajasthan throwing normal life into disarray as the mercury fell to freezing point at Churu and Pilani which registered lows of zero degree and 0.5 degree, respectively.

Water pipes froze and burst at many places in the desert State where Jaipur, the State capital, reeled under 2.4 degrees, the lowest this season. Tourist flow to the hill resort of Mount Abu was hit owing to misty and foggy weather for the past two days. Streets at many places in the State wore a deserted look as people preferred to stay indoors.

In the Kashmir Valley, the Dal Lake, a huge draw for tourists in Srinagar, stayed frozen due to intense cold.

The lake was first frozen completely in early 1960s when the minimum temperature dipped to minus 12 degrees C. The then Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad, had driven a vehicle over the frozen surface.

The night temperature in Srinagar on Sunday dipped to minus 5.6 degrees and icy winds swept the city on Monday morning. Water taps in several parts of the city and elsewhere in the valley froze owing to the sharply dipping temperatures.

Punjab and Haryana reeled under a biting cold wave with the mercury hovering around zero degree at many places.

The minimum temperature dipped to minus 2.2 degrees at Adampur in Punjab while the holy city of Amritsar shivered at one degree, down by five degrees.

For the third day in a row, the mercury in Chandigarh settled below freezing point recording a low of 0.6 degrees, six notches below normal. In Haryana, the mercury fell to a record low of minus 0.4 degrees at Narnaul.

Ambala (3.3 degrees), Karnal (3.8) and Hisar (5) were also in the grip of the unrelenting cold wave.

The weatherman said the cold wave would persist for some more days as the Western disturbance that was likely to bring some relief had passed over the region. - PTI

Delhi Staff Reporter adds:

"The minimum temperature on Monday was the lowest this season at 2.6 degrees Celsius. This is a good four degrees below the usual minimum temperature at this time,'' said the weatherman in the Capital.

Trying out different ways to keep the chill away, there were many who huddled round small bonfires desperate to keep warm while others could be seen standing at roadside tea-stalls sipping steaming cups of tea to warm their hands.

Those expecting a sunny Tuesday might be in for a disappointment with the weatherman forecasting a similarly cold day for the Capital.

For hundreds of students returning to Delhi University on Monday after the annual winter break, it was a rather cold welcome. Armed with heavy woollens they had to start the new academic year.

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