Dense fog disrupts air, rail traffic in Punjab, Haryana

Cold conditions persisted in most parts of Punjab and Haryana on Friday even as poor visibility due to foggy weather disrupted air, rail and road traffic in the region.

Narnaul in Haryana was the coldest place in the region at 4.6 degrees Celsius, a notch below normal, the MeT office said.

Ludhiana, which was the coldest in Punjab, recorded a minimum of 5.8 degrees Celsius. Chandigarh had a low of 9.2 degrees Celsius.

About 10 flights from several places, including Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai to Chandigarh, were delayed due to poor visibility, officials said.

A few trains, including Kalka-Howrah Mail, Lucknow- Chandigarh Express and Bandra-Chandigarh Express, were running behind schedule due to moderate to dense fog.

Traffic movement on roads was also slow. The weatherman has predicted dry conditions in the region with a possibility of dense fog at a few places in Punjab and Haryana over the next two days. Flights arriving - from Mumbai and Delhi - at the Jaipur airport were delayed by more than an hour before noon. Tweleve flights departing from the airport were delayed too. Delhi witnessed a chilly day as the maximum temperature dipped to 18.5 degrees Celsius, two notches below the normal.

Foggy weather during morning hours delayed nearly 70 trains, another 34 were rescheduled.

Visibility at Palam airport was recorded at 300 metres early on Friday but improved later in the morning by 100 metres.

The situation was similar in Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, where people have been witnessing chilly weather condition for some time now. The Patna Meteorological Centre has forecast that people across Bihar are likely to battle cold weather through the New Year due to chilly wind coming from Kashmir and Himachal, where thousands of tourists have thronged to witness snowfall likely to occur on December 31. The lowest temperature of 8 degrees Celsius was recorded at Sabour in Bhagalpur district.

Himachal’s weather department has forecast snowfall or rainfall in mid and higher hills on Saturday. The minimum temperatures oscillated between minus 8.0 and minus 13.0 degrees Celsius in the high-altitude tribal areas. The minimum temperature in the picturesque Manali was 0.4 degree. The prevailing dry spell in Kashmir, the longest in nearly four decades, is likely to end next week as the Met department in the state has forecast a spell of rain or snow in the Valley where night temperatures dipped once again.

Kashmir has been witnessing dry spell for 35 to 40 years.

There has been negligible rainfall in past five months, Met department officials said.

Srinagar’s night temperature was recorded at minus 4.3, while it was minus 3.4 degrees Celsius in Pahalgam hill resort and it was a low of zero in famous ski-resort of Gulmarg.

Sikar was the coldest place in Rajasthan with a minimum temperature of 6.5 degrees Celsius, followed by Churu (7.5C).