Mercury rises in Delhi, snowfall hits normal life in Arunachal

New Delhi, Jan 19 (PTI) Cold conditions relented slightlytoday in Delhi and Rajasthan with the rising of mercury evenas chill intensified in other northern states and heavysnowfall hitting normal life in parts of Arunachal Pradesh.

It was a sunny morning for Delhiites and the city recordedminimum 5.8 degree Celsius as against yesterday''s 4.4 deg C.

Cold conditions relented in Rajasthan providing much-needed relief to the people.

Bikaner recorded a low of 4.6 deg C, followed by 4.8 degC in both Churu and Sriganganagar.

The Pink City Jaipur settled at 5.6 deg C.

Meanwhile, heavy snowfall disrupted normal life in Tawangand several other districts in Arunachal Pradesh.

Several feet of snow covered the entire Tawang township,disrupting surface communication, water supply, power andtelephone connectivity.

Several tourists were stranded at Tawang and Dirang inWest Kameng district following heavy snowfall at Jung andSella Pass respectively.

Snowfall was also reported from West Siang, Lower DibangValley and Bomdila districts.

Chill intensified further in Jammu and Kashmir with mostparts of the state reeling under sub-zero temperature.

Kargil at -22 deg C was the coldest place in the state.

Leh in Ladakh region witnessed a drop of 9.2 notches inminimum temperature to settle at -19 deg C.

Pahalgam was the coldest place in Kashmir valley with themercury plunging to minimum -14.6 deg C from yesterday''s -8.2deg C.

Elsewhere, Srinagar recorded a low of -5.2 deg C, Gulmarg-13.6 deg C, Kokernag -7.6 deg C and Qazigund -7.9 deg C.

Icy winds continued to lash Punjab and Haryana with theminimum temperature hovering between one and four deg C belownormal in the region.

Both Amritsar and Patiala in Punjab recorded a low of 2deg C each, the coldest places in the region.

Karnal in Haryana settled at minimum 4 deg C followed byNarnaul at 4.2 deg C. Hisar and Rohtak braved an identical lowof 5.1 deg C, while it was 5.5 deg C in Gurgaon.

Chandigarh, the joint capital of the two neighbouringstates, settled at a low of 5 deg C, one notch below normal.

Biting chill swept Himachal Pradesh with mercury dippingin the entire states.

Keylong in Lahaul and Spiti district was the coldestplace in the state with the mercury dropping to minimum -16.8deg C.

Shimla settled at 1.1 deg C, while it was -0.8 deg C inSolan, -0.6 deg C in Bhuntar and 0.2 deg C in Sundernagar. PTITEAM