Intense cold, dense fog prevails in north India, 10 killed

Intense cold conditions continued unabated in the northern region disrupting transport services today as mercury dropped by several notches and fog enveloped most parts, causing poor visibility and resulting in death of 10 people in road accidents.
Winter chill prevailed in the national capital, recoding below normal maximum temperature at 15.9 degree Celsius and minimum temperature of five degree Celsius.
The movement of about 70 trains to and from the city was affected this morning and several flights were also delayed due to poor visibility, which was recorded 600 meters at 5.30 AM and 500 meters at 11.30 AM, 2.30 PM and 5.30 PM.

Chandigarh recorded the season's coldest night at 3.2 degree C as severe chill swept the city with fog affecting normal life at many places in Punjab and Haryana.
Cold waves swept Hisar in Haryana as the minimum temperature settled at 6.7 degree C, while Ambala recorded a low of 4.8 degree C, Karnal at 4.7 degree C, and Narnaul at 4 degree C.
In Punjab, the minimum temperature in Amritsar settled at 4 degree C, while Ludhiana recorded 6.6 degree C.

The Kashmir Valley, which is going through the harshest 'Chillai Kalan' period, saw mercury drop to freezing low including at Ladakh region, with twin towns of Leh and Kargil recording the state's lowest temperature of minus 10 degree C.

The minimum in Srinagar settled at minus 3.8 degrees Celsius while in hill resort of Pahalgam temperature settle at minus 6.4 degrees Celsius. Ski resort Gulmarg experienced a low of minus 5.8 degrees Celsius.
Icy winds accompanied with dense fog threw normal life out of gear in Rajasthan where at least 28 trains were running behind the schedule.
A NWR spokesperson said that 28 trains were running late in the state from 20 minutes to 15 hours. Six trains were rescheduled, one Sriganganagar-Jammu Tawi train was cancelled and two trains were partially cancelled.
Road transport was also hit in Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh due to fog and passenger buses were also delayed by several hours.

Sikar in the state was the coldest place with a minimum temperature of 2.5 degree C while Mount Abu on hills recorded a minimum temperature of 4 degree C.
Cold wave conditions prevailed at a few places over eastern region and many places over western parts of Uttar Pradesh and the lowest temperature in the state was recorded at 2.4 degree Celsius in Muzzafarnagar.