By IANS
New Delhi : Typical winter shivers are back after warm days of early January as cold wave conditions swept through entire north India Tuesday with temperatures dropping considerably below normal.
While the national capital recorded a low of 2.6 degrees Celsius, the mercury dipped to minus 5.2 in Adampur town near Jalandhar, making it the coldest place in north Indian plains. Kargil in Jammu and Kashmir was freezing at minus 22.
It was a bitterly cold Tuesday in Delhi as the temperature recorded was five degrees below normal. The weather office had more bad news – the mercury might sink to below one degree Celsius in the coming days.
“Temperatures will drop further and we will not be surprised if it goes below one degree Celsius,” said an India Meteorological Department (IMD) official.
Snowfall and rain in the Himalayan region, especially in Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh, are responsible for the chill in the capital. “The breeze blowing from northwest India is helping the weather conditions here as well,” the official said.
He said the cold wave conditions that began Monday would continue at least till the weekend. Last year, Delhi had recorded a minimum of six degrees Celsius on Jan 22.
“This is very surprising. We used to take off our woollens around Jan 26 as it would usually get warmer around that time,” said Avineesh Singh, a banker in Delhi.
“This time around it’s quite unusual,” added the banker wrapped in woollens.
Kashmir valley, also reeling under another spell of bone-chilling cold, had the minimum temperature in Srinagar falling to minus 5.3 degrees Celsius Tuesday.
“We have been experiencing cloudless skies for the past more than a week that causes fall in temperatures,” said an official of the weather department in Srinagar.
He predicted no respite from the cold wave and said: “Same weather conditions are likely to continue for a few days more.”
Adampur at minus 5.2 on Tuesday morning broke a 36-year-old record of lowest temperature in the north Indian plains. The Punjab town, 20 km from Jalandhar, had recorded minus five on Jan 7, 1972.
Amritsar was also freezing at minus 2.4 degrees, six degrees lower than average. Chandigarh was slightly warmer at 1.6, four degrees below normal.
Punjab’s industrial hub Ludhiana recorded a low of one degree and Patiala was chilling at 0.8 degree.
In neighbouring Haryana, Karnal was the coldest at minus 0.3, again seven degrees below average. Ambala and Narnaul were warmer at 1.2 and 0.5 respectively.
People in the Uttar Pradesh capital Lucknow were also fighting chilly conditions as mercury plummeted to a minimum of 4.4 with overcast conditions.
The sudden dip in temperature caught residents of Agra unawares as the mercury dipped to 2.2 degrees Celsius Monday and touched freezing point 22 km away on the road to Mathura.
Visitors to the Taj Mahal, particularly those from southern and western India, shivered in the long queues at the entrance to the monument. The cold wave has taken its toll on the number of tourists in the city.
The weather and agriculture offices in Agra said if the cold wave continued for a few more days, it could affect winter crops. “The farmers are spending sleepless nights fearing frost and fog which could damage not just the potato crop, but also wheat and mustard,” the officials said.
In Himachal Pradesh also there was no respite from the severe cold wave, which continued to tighten its grip across the state despite sunny skies Tuesday.
Residents in Shimla awoke to a third consecutive chilly morning with water pipes freezing yet again. Monday recorded a minimum temperature of minus 2.2 degrees Celsius. Tuesday it was minus one degree Celsius in the city.
The cold spell continued unabated in the higher areas of the state including Lahaul, Spiti, Bharmaur, Kinnaur and Dodra Kwar, which are under several feet of snow since the past two weeks and remain cut off from the rest of the world.