Cold wave disrupts normal life in north India; Death toll in UP rises to 92

Dec 31 Cold wave continued to sweep North India. Foggy weather disrupted rail, road and air traffic at several places. The fog also affected the schedule of about 50 flights at Delhi airport on Sunday. National capital had a gloomy weather as the fog returned after four days. In Uttar Pradesh, cold wave has claimed three more lives during the past 24 hours. The toll in the state during this season has gone upto 92. Lucknow was the coldest place with a minimum of 0.7 degrees celcius on Sunday. It was seven degrees below normal. Met Department says prevailing weather condition is likely to continue during the next 24 hours. Normal life in most parts of Punjab and Haryana was crippled due to the fog, which threw rail and road traffic out of gear. However, minimum temperature in the region rose due to cloudy sky. While most of the flights from Chandigarh airport were cancelled or re-scheduled. Several trains criss-crossing the region are also running hours behind the schedule due to low visibility. Hisar was the coldest place in the plains of Punjab and Haryana with a low of 2.2 deg C. Mercury plummeted in northern parts of Rajasthan with Shri Ganganagar freezing at a low of 0.6 deg C. In Himachal Pradesh, all natural sources of water like lakes, springs, rivulets and large stretch of the Chandrabhaga river in Spiti were frozen for the past three weeks, causing sharp fall in discharge of water in snow-fed Sutlej, Ravi and Beas Rivers. The power generation in hydropower projects has also gone down sharply.