No let-up in cold; Amritsar, Adampur shiver at 0.4 Celsius

CHANDIGARH : Freezing cold conditions gripped parts of Punjab and Haryana as the minimum temperatures, which have been hovering below normal limits over the past two weeks, further plummeted on Tuesday.

Amritsar and Adampur reeled as the mercury plunged to identical minimum temperatures of 0.4 degrees Celsius, a Meteorological Department (Met) official said here.

It was also the season’s coldest night so far in Amritsar, where the minimum dropped three notches below normal limits, he said.

Among other places in Punjab, Pathankot recorded a low of 2.9 degrees Celsius, Ludhiana 2.8 degrees Celsius, Faridkot 3.8 degrees Celsius, Gurdaspur 3.5 degrees Celsius, Bathinda 4.5 degrees Celsius and Halwara registered a low of 3 degrees Celsius.

Chandigarh recorded a minimum temperature of 5.5 degrees Celsius.

In Haryana, Narnaul was the coldest place with a minimum of 2.5 degrees Celsius, while piercing cold also gripped Hisar, which witnessed at a low of 2.8 degrees Celsius.

Rohtak’s minimum settled at 4.2 degrees Celsius, Karnal recorded a low of 5 degrees Celsius, Bhiwani 4.4 degrees Celsius, Ambala 6.2 degrees Celsius and Sirsa’s minimum settled at 4 degrees Celsius.

The cold wave conditions are likely to continue in the two states over the next few days, the Met official said.

He said that fog reduced visibility at many places in the morning, including Adampur, Halwara, Bathinda, Faridkot, Gurdaspur and Hisar.

DENSE FOG HITS RAIL SERVICES

With no respite from cold wave conditions, dense fog has effected rail services across the northern region as many trains are running late and others have been cancelled.

Impact of poor visibility was witnessed at Amritsar railway station where Tata Muri Express train arrived nine hours late on Tuesday, a statement released by the Ferozepur divison of the railways said.

Ferozepur divison public relations officer (PRO) Vikrant Kumar informed that the Jan Sewa Express (Amritsar– Saharsa), Inter-city Express (Amritsar-chandigarh) and Shaheed Express (Amritsarjain Nagar) were cancelled on Tuesday.

He further informed that trains such as Howrah Mail, Chhattisgarh Express, Paschim Express, Sachkhand Express, Shan-e-punjab Express, Jan Nayak Express, Dadar Express and others were late by hours on Tuesday.