By IANS,
Chandigarh : After over ten days of foggy and overcast mornings, the people of the union territory of Chandigarh and neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana woke up to a clear and sunny sky Sunday morning.
“There were mild showers of rain in Chandigarh and in various regions of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh that brought respite from the dense fog. The minimum morning temperature Sunday was 9.8 degree Celsius, two degrees above the normal temperature this time of the year,” Chatar Singh Malik, director of meteorological department, told IANS.
The temperature Sunday was three degrees higher than Saturday’s 6.8 degree Celsius, bringing much needed relief from the shivering cold in the region.
However, Malik said this was a temporary phase as due to western disturbances, it was expected both day and night temperatures would fall sharply and foggy conditions again prevail in the region after a few days.
Amritsar in Punjab, which was cooler than Shimla in Himachal Pradesh for the last many days, saw a substantial rise in temperature with the morning minimum temperature Sunday recorded at 6.1 degree Celsius.
Shimla saw a minimum temperature Sunday plunge to 1.7 degree Celsius owing to the rainfall Saturday night. The temperature Saturday was 5.7 degree Celsius.
It being a Sunday, people in Chandigarh came out in large numbers and thronged the tourist destinations to enjoy the clear winter sun. Places like Sukhna Lake, Rock Garden, Rose Garden and the Sector-17 plaza saw a huge rush after many dull days.
“We normally have huge rush throughout the day but bad weather was affecting our business badly as very few people were coming here. However, we again have the same rush Sunday just like any other day,” said Mahipal Singh, who runs a juice stall at Sukhna Lake.
Ankush Sharma, a student said: “We were forced to remain indoors during our winter holidays due to intense fog and cold weather. On seeing the sun in the morning, we immediately planned an outing as we were really missing those sunny wintry afternoons.”