AT 2.4 DEGREES, DELHI RECORDS COLDEST DAY
Delhi, on Saturday, recorded the coldest day of the season with the minimum temperature plummeting to 2.4 degree Celsius at 6 am at the Safdarjung Airport. It was even less at 1.9 degree Celsius at Ayanagar on the border of Delhi and 1.7 degree Celsius at Lodhi Road, just a km away from Safdarjung.
Delhi, under a cold spell since December 14, is expected to witness its second coldest December since 1901, the weather office said.
Mercury fell to its lowest point in Delhi with Safdarjung observatory, whose figures are taken as the official reading for the city, recording 2.4 degree Celsius. At the Palam observatory, near the airport, it was 3.1 degree Celsius.
Dense fog enveloped the city, reducing visibility and affecting the air, rail and road traffic. Half a dozen accidents were reported on the road. Due to very dense fog, zero visibility was reported in Palam. An airport official said that four flights were diverted from Delhi airport due to heavy fog, while 24 trains were running late. The official said that the flights are operating at the airport under CAT III B conditions, which means that the runway visual range (RVR) is between 50 metre and 175 metre.
Meanwhile, many parts of Himachal Pradesh recorded temperatures below the freezing point on Saturday. Kufri, Manali, Solan, Bhuntar, Sundernagar, Seobagh and Kalpa shivered at sub-zero temperatures in the state, where Keylong was the coldest place recording minus 11.5 degrees Celsius, the Meteorological (MeT) Department said. Cold wave conditions continued to prevail in parts of Rajasthan as well. Fatehpur recorded the lowest temperature in the state at minus 4 degrees Celsius on Friday night. Sikar and Mount Abu recorded a minimum temperature of minus 1 and minus 1.5 degrees Celsius, respectively.
In Bhopal, devotees of Sankatmochan Temple covered the idols of Hindu deities, including Krishna and Ganesh, with woollen clothes in an act of faith. People flocked to the temple to see the deities covered in warm clothes. In UP, the government sanctioned an additional Rs 9.65 crore for blanket distribution in 44 districts.