World

Cold wave sweeps North India

by Sanjay Jha | January 2, 2009 at 12:38 am

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The New Year has ushered Indian capital New Delhi with real, biting chill, the season's minimum temperatures.

Delhi recorded the coldest day of the season at just 4 degree Celsius this morning. The maximum temperature also fell to 17.9 degree Celsius, leaving the Delhites shiver in cold. According to the met department, the minimum temperature of Delhi was three degree below normal today.

Several flights and trains were either delayed or cancelled due to dense fog and low visibility. the old runway on IGI Airport, Delhi was closed for over 10 hours on Thursday. A large number of backlogs are in queue and it will take more time before the normal flight operation resumes.

It's the time when the homeless really seek out night shelters, but not everyone finds space.

The region was covered by fog early today morning with visibility level dropping to almost zero, the Met department said.

Fog had enveloped several places, including Moga, Chandigarh, Amritsar, Bathinda, Ludhiana, Patiala, Adampur, Ambala, Karnal, Sonepat and Rohtak, it said.

The flight schedules from Chandigarh and Amritsar were affected due to fog, with most of the flights getting delayed.

"Over the past one week, Amritsar has been under thick fog cover. Many flights have been canceled over the week and several have got delayed," Amritsar's airport director, Arun Talwar said.

Fog hit vehicular traffic on the national and state highways in Punjab and Haryana and several long distance trains were also delayed.

Amritsar recorded the season's coldest day so far at a low of 1 degrees Celsius, three degree below normal, the Met department said.