Cold grips northern belt, power generation affected in HP

New Delhi, Jan 22 (UNI) Cold conditions gripped the northern region today despite sunny weather in most parts while various rivulets froze in the upper reaches of Himachal Pradesh, affecting power generation at all hydro-electricity projects.

The night temperatures at most places in the plains of Punjab and Haryana remained below normal and in the tribal districts of Himachal, the minimum was between minus five degrees to minus 20 degrees.

Temperatures at Amritsar and Adampur in Punjab dropped to 0.7 degrees Celsius and minus 2.2 degrees respectively. In Ludhiana, the night temperature was recorded at 1.4 degrees, five degrees below normal. Patiala was at 5.2 degrees, one degree below normal and Chandigarh observed 4.6 degrees.

In Himachal, extreme cold wave conditions persisted in the tribal belts where snowfall occured at isolated places, including Killar and Sach Pass. A number of water bodies, including Chandertal and Surajtal were frozen, affecting the power generation at all the hydro-electricity projects in the state.

With cold wave sweeping across the state, Bhuntar in Kullu district recorded minus 0.9 degrees and Sundernagar in Mandi district showed 0.0 degree. While Shimla registered a temperature of 2.8 degrees, Kalpa in the tribal district of Lahaul and Spiti recorded a minimum temperature of minus 5.6 degrees.

Narnaul in Haryana was the coldest place at 3.0 degrees, while Karnal was also cold at 4.0 degrees, three degrees below normal.In Ambala the minimum was recorded at 4.1 degrees, three degrees below normal.

The Weather Office has predicted partly cloudy days in the region with fog or mist occuring during night and morning in Punjab and Haryana in the next 24 hours.

The Cold Northwesterly winds continued to put Delhiites ''in a freeze'' for the second consecutive day as the mercury in the national capital dropped to 6.3 degrees.

The cold wave, which has now been going on for the last three weeks, is likely to intensify in the coming days, with continuing prevalence of ground frost conditions over some parts of Punjab and north Haryana, the Met Department said.

The met office has forecast a mainly clear sky in Delhi during the next 24 hours with the possibility of slight fog or mist in the morning.

People in the holy city of Allahbad in Uttar Pradesh enjoyed the pleasant weather owing to sunshine during the day even as cold wave intensified in the state after a gap of two days.

According to the weatherman, temperature recorded a drop at many places, although the cloudy sky gave way to clear sky.

During the last 24 hours, mercury plummeted in Allahabad, Agra, Faizabad, Lucknow, Kanpur and Jhansi divisions.

The holy city of Allahabad remained the coldest place at 4.8 degrees Celsius, while Agra recorded 5.4 degrees and the state capital recorded 5.5 degrees.

After last few days' cold spell in West Bengal, Kolkatans experienced a cloudy and humid day with the minimum temperature rising to 15 degrees. The Met office forecast a partly cloudy sky with the minimum temperature hovering around 15 degrees for the next couple of days.

The maximum temperature was recorded at 28.9 degrees and the humidity level was at 91 per cent.

In Rajasthan, after a couple of days respite, cold wave returned to the desert state with mercury showing a downward trend at many places.

Churu was the coldest place in the state with 1.7 degrees Celsius while mercury in Jaipur dropped by three degrees to 3.4 degrees.

Night tempratures were above normal in coastal Orissa, south Chattisgarh, north coastal Andhra Pradesh, some parts of Gujarat and in remaining parts of Asom and Meghalaya.

Rain or thundershowers have occured at isolated places in Arunachal Pradesh, Asom and Meghalaya, and Sikkim. Mainly dry weather prevailed over Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Orissa, Jharkhand and Bihar.

UNI