Life hit as winter onslaught continues

The winter chill continued its relentless assault on north India on Thursday with the cold winds showing no signs of subsiding. The dense morning fog again disrupted rail and road traffic with as many as 69 train services affected in the capital alone. At least 50 trains were running behind schedule in Delhi and 19 were rescheduled as visibility fell to 400 metres in the morning.The minimum temperature settled at two notches below average at 6°C. The authorities have cancelled more than 25 trains from Delhi till Jan. 31. In Rajasthan as well, a few trains coming to Jaipur were delayed by two-10 hours due to fog.In Haryana, power supply in some parts was affected after transmission lines tripped due to dense fog. “Power supply was affected in Sirsa, Fatehabad, Bhiwani and Hisar districts,” an official said.Most parts of Punjab and Chandigarh experienced bright and sunny weather. The minimum temperature in Chandigarh was six degrees while Hisar and Rohtak in Haryana recorded lows of 4°C.In Punjab, Amritsar and Ludhiana recorded four and five degrees, respectively. In Bihar, the biting cold weather continued. At least 22 people have died in the cold wave in the last five days.The minimum temperature in Patna was recorded at 6.5 degrees while it was 4.4 degrees in Gaya.“The government had already sounded a statewide cold alert and directed officials to arrange wood for bonfire,” an official said.Up north, both Jammu Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh witnessed cold and dry weather conditions with no fresh snowfall or rainfall.“Because of clear night skies, the minimum temperatures will fall much below the freezing point in the Kashmir Valley during the next 48 hours,” said Sonam Lotus, director of the local weather office in Srinagar.