New Delhi, January 04: A cold wave swept over north and east India on Sunday throwing life out of gear.
While several places witnessed disruption in flight and train services, in Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand a number of deaths were reported due to the intense cold.
According to the disaster management department of Uttar Pradesh, as many as 14 people died in different parts of the state on Saturday and Sunday because of the cold.
“The 14 deaths have been reported from many districts, including Banda, Bhadohi, Gorakhpur, Jaunpur and Varanasi,” the official of the disaster management department told IANS.
The lowest minimum temperature of five degrees Celsius was recorded in the state’s Shahjahanpur district on Sunday, followed by Lucknow where the minimum temperature was 7.4 degrees Celsius.
It is forecast that the fog and cold wave condition would persist in the state for at least two more days.
A total of 13 people lost their lives in Jharkhand because of the intense winter chill. “The cold wave and the dipping mercury have claimed 13 lives in the state. Four people died in Ranchi and three each died in Hazaribagh and Dhanbad. Deaths were also reported from Bokaro, Garwah and Jamshedpur,” an official told IANS.
The national capital received 1 mm of rainfall on Sunday, an India Meteorological Department official said, adding the rainfall was generally because of the western disturbances and this time too because of the same over parts of Jammu and Kashmir.
The minimum temperature in Delhi was 9.5 degrees Celsius, two notches above the average. The maximum temperature was recorded at 15.3 degrees Celsius, seven degrees below the average. Although the fog cleared as the day progressed in Delhi, several flight delays and cancellations were reported.
“At least six domestic flights, including ones to Amritsar, Srinagar and Leh, were cancelled due to poor weather at their respective destinations. Some international flights were delayed by a few hours around midnight. Twelve domestic flights were also delayed,” an airport official said. In Chandigarh, Punjab and Haryana, dense fog reduced the visibility to below 100 metres – delaying several trains.
–Agencies