Ground zero of cold wave
As all of Jharkhand shivers, Kanke in Ranchi hits freezing point
RANCHI: Temperature kissed the freezing point in Ranchi’s Kanke suburb on the night between Saturday and Sunday, as per the observatory of Birsa Agriculture University (BAU), Ranchi. However, the automatic weather station of the weather department at Kanke recorded the minimum at 2.9 degree Celsius.
The capital city itself recorded the season’s lowest temperature, with the mercury dipping to 4.6 degree Celsius, 4.3 degrees below normal, meteorological department officials said on Sunday.
University officials said that the gap between figures from BAU and the weather department was due to the height and location of the two sets of equipment. BAU’s thermometer is installed in an open area and its height is lower than the weather department’s thermometer.
This is the third time in a decade when the minimum temperature has been recorded at zero degree. Earlier, zero degree was recorded on December 27, 2012, and December 29, 2014.
Grass frost and frozen droplets were found on the BAU campus on Sunday. RS Sharma, the forecasting officer at the met centre in Ranchi, said, “The minimum temperature represents the air temperature at the height of 1.25 metre from Earth’s surface. The ground cools quicker than the air. So, when the ground/grass has a temperature of freezing or below, then ground frost may be observed.”
Residents of Kanke — and Ranchi as a whole — have been shivering for the past couple of days. “The cold has disrupted our daily routine. We usually start our day by 7am, but now it’s beginning at 10am,” said Raju Mahato, a Kanke resident.
“The last week of December and the first week of January is considered peak winter. Therefore, the temperature falls drastically in this period,” said A Wadud, a senior meteorological scientist of BAU. He added that
the temperature was bad for Rabi crops and winter vegetable. Wadud suggested that farmers create smoke on their fields by burning dry grass or paddy straw, or arrange for light irrigation to protect the crops.
Indeed, the cold wave has gripped entire Jharkhand. “The temperature is likely to increase by one or two degrees in the next 48 hours,” said Sharma.
The homeless and the poor are the worst sufferers. The Ranchi administration has distributed 3,000 blankets against a target of 50,000. A rickshaw-puller named Babu Sahab, one of the many who have to sleep outside in this cold, said that he did not receive any blankets.