Cold conditions grip Punjab, Haryana; Hisar freezing at 0.2 deg C

Severe cold cold conditions coupled with fog have thrown normal life out of gear in most parts of Punjab and Haryana on Saturday with many places recording minimum temperatures five to seven notches below normal.

Hisar was the coldest place in the two states with the minimum settling at 0.2 degrees Celsius, seven notches below normal limits, the meteorological department said here.

The minimum temperatures at Hisar (0.2), Narnaul (0.5), Rohtak (1.8), Karnal (1.5), Sirsa (2), Bathinda (2.3) and Bhiwani (3.9) were even lower than Shimla which registered a low of 4 degrees Celsius.

Most places in Haryana and Punjab witnessed fog with visibility reducing to 600 metres, disrupting air, rail and road traffic in the region.

In a fog related accident, two people died and around 12 were injured in a pile up of 15 vehicles at Delhi-Jaipur highway in Rewari district of Haryana, police said.

Due to cold conditions, one unidentified person died in Chandigarh on Friday night, they said.

Chandigarh settled at a low of 5.1, one notch below normal.

The minimum temperatures at Narnaul, Karnal, Rohtak were five notches below normal at 0.5, 1.5, 1.8 respectively while Bathinda 2.3, Bhiwani 3.9, Ambala 4.1, Amritsar 4.7, Halwara 5.1, Patiala 5.1, Ludhiana 5.6, Adampur 7.2, Pathankot 7.5 were also below normal by one to two notches.

The MeT forecast no relief from the intense cold conditions during the next three days besides predicting dense fog in Punjab and Haryana.