Intense cold conditions continued unabated in the northern region disrupting transport services on Wednesday 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 KashmirValley, 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 MountAbu 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.
At least two persons were killed and 20 others were injured in multi-vehicle collision after over 28 vehicles crashed on Yamuna Expressway near Greater Noida due to dense fog conditions, the police said.
The series of collision was triggered after a bus hit a car because of low visibility due to foggy conditions. Later a PAC truck and around 22 cars rammed into the two vehicles.
Another eight persons were killed when a minibus in which they were returning from Vrindavan to Midhakur town, about 15 km from Agra, collided head-on with a tractor last night near Runkuta town of Agra district.
The mishap also occurred because of poor visibility caused by fog, the police said. The impact was so severe that the minibus containing a total of 19 people turned turtle thrice before stopping and was broken into two pieces, they added.
