Date:03/01/2009 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2009/01/03/stories/2009010354940500.htm

New Delhi

Freezing cold persists in North; two more die

Fog disrupts road, rail and air traffic in Punjab and Haryana

Educational institutes in Sant Kabir Nagar closed for two days
Amritsar records the season’s coldest day with a low of 1 degrees

Photo: Ranjeet Kumar

No relief: Braving intense cold and thick fog, girl students on way to their school in Patna on Friday.

New Delhi: Biting cold gripped north India on the second day of the New Year with two more persons succumbing to the chill as the death toll in the region this winter mounted to six.

Two middle-aged men, Pardesi and Ram Swaroop, died of intense cold in Sant Kabir Nagar district in Uttar Pradesh on Friday.

In the wake of the increasing cold, the district administration ordered closure of all educational institutes in urban and rural areas of Sant Kabir Nagar for next two days.

Amritsar recorded the season’s coldest day so far with a low of 1 degrees. While Chandigarh recorded a minimum of 6.2 degrees, Ambala shivered recording a low of 3.5 degrees.

Rohtak was the coldest place in Haryana at 2 degrees.

Road, rail and air traffic was thrown out of gear in Punjab and Haryana due to the thick blanket of fog with visibility level dropping to almost zero which also disrupted normal life there.

The region was covered under dense blanket of fog early on Friday morning with visibility level dropping to almost zero, the Met department said.

Meanwhile, the sun kept playing hide-and-seek in Shimla throughout the day where temperature was measured at 4.1 degrees with Lahual & Spiti and other high altitude areas recording sub-zero temperature.

Snowfall continued to elude the hill State with mercury dipping to -10.9 degrees in Lahual & Spiti’s district headquarters of Keylong.

In capital Shimla, which recorded a minimum temperature of 4.1 degrees, dark cloud engulfed the place till afternoon after which the sky cleared.

While the Rohtang Pass continued to remain under about 6 foot snow, Keylong had around 7-8 inches of snow.

Helicopter made three sorties today from Bhuntar airport in Kullu to Tandi to ferry people.

The met office forecasts light to moderate snowfall at few places over the mid and higher reaches of the state especially in the district of Chamba, Kullu, Lahual & Spiti, Kinnaur, Shimla and part of Kangra tomorrow and on January 4. PTI