Fog disrupts transport services in Raj as cold intensifies

As cold wave conditions intensified its grip in Rajasthan, poor visibility due to dense fog today disrupted the movement of trains and road transport in the state throwing normal life out of gear.
Over eight trains under the North-West Region (NWR) have been running late from 30 minutes to 12 hours and five other trains were rescheduled, a NWR spokesman said.
The Howrah-Jodhpur/Bikaner train is running late by over 12 hours, while trains between Allahabad-Jaipur, Gorakhpur-Hisar, and Kanpur-Jaipur are running late by at least seven hours, the spokesman said.
Road transportation, especially roadways buses were plying late due to fog in neighbouring states of Haryana, Punjab, Delhi, and Uttar Pradesh, an RTDC official said.

Mount Abu, the sole hill station in the state recorded the lowest temperature till now at one degree Celsius last night, a MeT department report said.
Mercury further dipped at most places by one to two degrees Celsius due to chilly weather conditions, it said.

The minimum temperatures at Pilani, Churu, Sriganganagar, Kota were recorded at 4.2 degrees, 5.2 degrees, 6 degrees and 6.2 degrees Celsius respectively.
The minimum temperature in Jaisalmer and Barmer settled at 7.5 degrees Celsius each.
Jaipur was enveloped in thick fog till 9:30 AM and recorded a minimum temperature of 7.6 degrees Celsius, about 0.2 degrees less than the previous night.

Elsewhere the minimum temperature ranged between 8 and 11 degrees Celsius.
Temperatures may dip in the next 24 hours in the state as inflow of northerly icy winds is gaining further momentum, a forecast said.