Delhi shivers as mercury dips to 2.40 C
29 Dec 2014 12:00 AM GMT
According to reports at least three flights were cancelled and 55 delayed besides 70 trains were running late and guards were deployed to guide motorists on the high speed Yamuna Expressway. Traffic was also moving at snail’s space and motorists had to use head lights and indicators meant for night hours. However, Gurgaon was the coldest in NCR with minimum temperature of 0.4 degree Celsius while several places in Delhi recorded lower than the average official temperature of 2.6 degree Celsius. The minimum temperature in Pusa was recorded at 1.9 degree Celsius, Jafarpur at 1.3, while Faridabad froze at 2.3 degree Celsius.
According to officers of weather department the New Year could be even more bone-chilling, as some rain is expected on January 1. The cold wave is likely to continue till January 3, with slight fluctuation in daily temperature. The weathermen have predicted dense fog on Monday with maximum and minimum to hover between 18 and three degree Celsius respectively. Delhi’s all time low of 1.1 degrees celsius was recorded on 26 December, 1945.
Narendra Modi could not attend the oath ceremony of Jharkhand chief minister Raghubar Das as the flight in which he and BJP national president Amit Shah were scheduled to fly could not take off from Delhi due to bad weather. The visibility at IGI Airport in Delhi dropped to nil in early morning, leading to delay of 28 flights, 26 departing and 2 arrivals in Delhi. Three flights have been cancelled so far.
North and East India bound trains continue to be paralyzed. At least, 140 trains are running behind schedule, six have been cancelled and several have been rescheduled. In Uttar Pradesh, Mathura was coldest at 1.5 degree Celsius while Rajasthan continued to reel under extreme cold conditions with Churu being the coldest place in the desert state recording a minimum temperature 1.4 degree Celsius.
“The foggy spell will continue till the deep depression formed in Sri Lanka-Tamil Nadu coast crosses. Severe cold claimed a homeless man’s life on Saturday, which is the second cold related death in the city in the last four days,”R K Jenamani, Director of Met Department. In the Kashmir Valley, cold weather conditions continue to prevail. However, there was slight respite from the severe cold in Srinagar. The minimum temperature in the city on Sunday appreciated a little to settle at minus 4.7 degrees Celsius. Many water bodies including the famous Dal Lake are frozen. Drinking water taps are also frozen at some places while early morning motorists faced difficulties due to a thin layer of frost on the roads. Leh recorded the coldest night of the season so far with a minimum temperature of minus 17 degrees Celsius. Kargil recorded a low of minus 15.2 degrees Celsius,and was the second coldest place in the State.
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