Snowfall in Jammu-Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand has shaken the plains of North India. In many places, the temperature has reached minus. The speed of trains has stopped due to fog. Dozens of trains are running late and many more have been cancelled. The gusts of icy wind coming from the mountains, has the whole of North India shivering.
Meanwhile, Fatehpur in Rajasthan’s Sikar district recorded a minimum temperature of minus 4.7 degrees Celsius on Sunday. This is the lowest minimum temperature in the plains of North-West India. It was minus 2.5 degree Celsius in Churu and minus one degree Celsius in Faridkot in Punjab.
National capital Delhi recorded a minimum temperature of 4.7 degrees Celsius, three notches below normal. Jafferpur recorded 2.6 degrees Celsius, Lodhi Road 3.8 degrees Celsius, Aya Nagar 3.0 degrees Celsius and The Ridge 3.2 degrees Celsius. The automatic meteorological station Ujwa in south-west Delhi recorded a minimum temperature of minus 0.1 degree Celsius, according to the India Meteorological Department’s website, reported HS.
Meteorologist Navdeep Dahiya shared this figure by tweeting. However, a senior official of the department refused to confirm this, saying that the automatic weather station at Ujwa is “not working”. Delhi’s maximum temperature settled at 17.8 degrees Celsius, two notches below normal, while the humidity level in the air ranged from 31 to 81 per cent.
Punjab recorded 1.6 degree Celsius
Amritsar in Punjab recorded a minimum temperature of 1.6 degrees Celsius. Ludhiana, Patiala, Pathankot, Bathinda and Gurdaspur recorded 4.9, 4.2, 8, 1 and 3.7 degrees Celsius respectively. Chandigarh recorded a minimum temperature of 6.7 degrees Celsius. Srinagar recorded a minimum temperature of minus 0.6 degrees Celsius, which is half a degree lower than Saturday’s.
The minimum temperature in the border district of Kupwara was minus 1.3 degrees. Pahalgam in Anantnag district recorded a minimum temperature of minus 10.9 degrees Celsius, five notches lower than the night before. It remained the coldest place in Jammu and Kashmir.
Possibility of a further drop in temperature
According to the Meteorological Department, during January 16, 17 and 18, there is a possibility of a further drop of about two degrees Celsius in the minimum temperature in many parts of northwest and central India. Cold wave will continue in many parts of Rajasthan, Punjab and Haryana. The department has issued a yellow alert for Delhi till January 21. The maximum and minimum temperature during this period is expected to be 18 and 3 degree Celsius respectively.
297 trains cancelled
Railways has cancelled 297 trains completely and 42 partially on Monday due to fog. These trains have trains running from Punjab, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Gujarat and other states.
Time table of 21 trains has been changed
Apart from this, the time table of 21 trains has been changed and the route of seven has been changed. These trains include trains like Garibrath, Shatabdi and Janshatabdi. Major trains running behind schedule include 22691 Bengaluru Rajdhani Express at 01 hrs 40 mins, 12058 Delhi Janshatabdi 20 mins, 12429 Lucknow Rajdhani Express at 02 hrs 01 mins, 15013 Ranikhet Express – 20 mins and 12190 Mahakaushal Express at 02 hrs 56 mins.
Massive avalanche at Sarbal Nilagar
The Army rescued 172 workers trapped in the Zojila tunnel due to a massive avalanche at Sarbal Nilagar in Sonamarg, Ganderbal district. The soldiers of the Indian Army safely evacuated the workers trapped in the tunnel. All these labourers were engaged in the construction of Zojila tunnel.
