Frost formation in Daringbadi as mercury drops below minus 2

An intense cold wave swept Odisha today with frost formation in Daringbadi in Kandhamal district where the mercury dipped below freezing point.
Daringbadi, a high-altitude tourist destination in Odisha, saw the mercury sliding to minus 2 degrees Celsius as against minus 1 degrees recorded yesterday.
"The minimum temperature, which was recorded at minus 1 degrees yesterday, further dropped to minus 2 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 people in Phulbani, Daringbadi, Khajuripada, Raikia, Balliguda, Kotagarh, and Tumudibandha areas were staying indoors after sunset due to the biting cold.

Kotagarh, Tumudibandha, and Balliguda in the district were also reeling under intense cold, they said.
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.
Other parts of the state also faced biting cold with the temperature sliding to 5.9 degrees Celsius in Sundargarh and 6.4 degrees in Keonjhargarh, while state capital Bhubaneswar recorded 11.2 degrees Celsius, the MeT office here said.