Frost formation in Daringbadi as mercury drops below -1 deg

An intense cold wave sweeping Daringbadi of Kandhamal district has led to frost formation in the area as the mercury there dipped below freezing point.
Daringbadi, which is popular as a high-altitude tourist destination in Odisha, saw the mercury sliding to -1 degrees Celsius.
"The minimum temperature, which was recorded at -0.5 degrees yesterday, further dropped to -1 degrees in the 3,000-ft high Daringbadi block of Kandhamal," said Ajeet Kumar Sahu of the Meteorological Observatory at Berhampur University.
District officials said that people in the Phulbani, Daringbadi, Khajuripada, Raikia, Balliguda, Kotagarh and Tumudibandha areas were staying indoors after sunset due to the biting cold.

"While the temperature was 3 degrees yesterday in the district headquarter of Phulbani, it came down to 2 degrees today," added Sahu.
Kotagarh, Tyumudibandha and Balliguda in the district recorded lows of 3.5, 4.5 and 4 degrees, respectively.
Meanwhile, the bitter cold weather has resulted in a large number of birds dying in the forests while fish died in tanks and ponds in different parts of the densely-forested Kandhamal district.