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Is the cold wave a weatherman's prank?

Soroor Ahmed in Patna

Gaya's "all-time low temperature" of 1.5 degrees Celsius on January 8 has less to do with geography than with the pranks the meteorological department often plays. Even the duty-officer in Patna has taken the news of this sudden dip in temperature, and so much variation in the day and night figures, with a pinch of salt. "There seems to be some fault in the apparatus and only a thorough inquiry will reveal the facts," he told rediff.com on Sunday.

What is astonishing is that the highest temperature on that very day was 20.8 degrees Celsius. Also, so much variation between Gaya and Patna, which is only 100 kilometres away, also sounds a bit unusual. For example, Patna, which recorded a high of 17.4 had a low of only 6.5 degrees Celsius. And lastly, why is it that not a single death has so far been reported from Gaya if the cold wave was so intense there? In the neighbouring districts whose topography is similar to that of Gaya more than two dozen people lost their lives. Among other things, this suggests that the other districts are equally or even more colder than Gaya.

Like many of the Central government departments in Bihar, anarchy prevails in the meteorological department with even the officials having no clue about anything. The telephones in the Gaya met office seldom work, which the officials there might actually find convenient, because then they won't have to report every now and then to their superiors or answer troublesome queries from newspapermen. The men deputed there 'dutifully' supply figures to the Patna office of the department over teleprinter everyday.

It is only during extreme climatic conditions that people bother to listen/read about the weather reports. The January 8 temperature surprised the local denizens, and some of them while talking to rediff.com over the phone openly challenged the weather report, arguing that the cold wave condition was not much different than on January 6. One official acknowledged that "we are puzzled as to how is it that the mercury dipped to 2.1, 1.5 and 2.8 degrees on January 7, 8 and 9 respectively when it was 6.1 on January 6. What makes it grotesque is that the day temperatures have shown a rising trend in these three days." However, he also added that in such an unpredictable climate nothing can be ruled out.

Gaya, no doubt, falls under an extreme-climate zone with half-a-dozen barren hills and an equally barren river surrounding it from all sides. It must be noted that the river Phalgu which flows through Gaya remains dry even during the monsoon season, which is strange, to say the least. According to Hindu mythology this is so because it was cursed by Ram's wife Sita. On their part, experts don't have precise scientific explanations except to say that certain peculiar climatic and topographical reasons cause this.

Similarly, the north-east Bihar districts which are quite close to the Himalayas should also be equally cold. Since newsmen in Bihar often relish in publishing exaggerated and sometimes even baseless stories without cross-checking the facts, no one has yet bothered to check why no death has been reported from Gaya in spite of the "near-freezing point" temperature. Either the administration has failed to report the death(s) or the meteorological department is putting out an exaggerated picture.

This jugglery with figures apart, the cold wave has wreaked havoc with the crops in the state. Potato, gram, wheat and other fruits and crops are likely to be affected. According to an agriculture expert "we, in India, have no way of saving the crops from such biting cold. Some of the experts talk of watering potato so that the frost melts, but it is not a feasible suggestion."

Meanwhile, the dense fog continues to takes its toll in the state. Eleven people, including four women, were killed when the Guwahati-bound Rajdhani Express ran over them on a foggy morning in Patna district. The accident occurred at Pandarak railway station, about 65 kilometres east of Patna around 0800 hours when they alighted from the stationary Delhi-bound Janata Express on the other side of the platform. They did not see the speeding Rajdhani Express coming from the opposite direction.

Passengers blame the train driver and the station master for the tragedy as they believe that allowing three trains to pass this small station at the same time was foolhardy. Union Agriculture Minister Nitish Kumar, under whose constituency Pandarak falls, and the Minister of State for Railways Digvijay Singh rushed to the spot. Chief Minister Rabri Devi has also condoled the deaths and has asked the district administration to take up relief work. The railways have announced a payment of Rs 15,000 to the kin of to each dead person and Rs 5,000 each to the seriously injured passengers.

In another bizarre accident four labourers were killed while they were sleeping underneath a tractor-trailer in Hazaribagh district last night. A speeding mini-bus coming from Patna hit the tractor as the visibility was quite low due to fog. The death toll in the cold wave and accidents caused by it has now risen to 225.

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