Cold day in Delhi, yellow alert issued for today and tomorrow

New Delhi, Jan 25: Delhi experienced cold day conditions on Tuesday with the maximum temperature settling at 7 degrees Celsius and the maximum at 16 degrees Celsius, according to the India Meteorological Department's (IMD).

A dense cover of fog engulfed the national capital on Tuesday morning causing difficulty for early morning commuters.

Almost all parts of Delhi recorded cold to severe cold day conditions, the weather department said.

Humidity levels oscillated between 100 per cent and 74 per cent.

The weatherman has forecast partly cloudy sky for Tuesday with moderate fog in the morning. Cold day conditions are likely to prevail at a few places with the maximum and minimum temperatures likely to settle around 16 degrees Celsius and seven degrees Celsius respectively.

The weather department predicted "Cold day" conditions ain Delhi for the next two days, with a yellow alert in place for Tuesday and Wednesday.

According to the IMD, a "cold day" is when the minimum temperature is less than 10 degrees Celsius and the maximum is at least 4.5 degrees Celsius below normal.

A "severe" cold day is when the maximum temperature is at least 6.5 notches below normal.

The maximum temperatures have been lower than normal since the second week of January. Minimum temperatures have been close to or above normal.

At least 106 people, mostly homeless persons, have died in Delhi this month due to cold conditions, non-government organisation Centre for Holistic Development (CHD) has claimed and written to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal requesting him to make proper arrangements for such people during winters.

While officials from the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) denied that deaths have occurred due to cold, officers of the Delhi Police acknowledged that the number of deaths among homeless people suffering from medical issues goes up during winters.

According to a report prepared by the NGO, 106 people have died due to cold in Delhi between January 1 and January 19. Of these, North Delhi district recorded the maximum number of deaths (33). North West Delhi recorded 13 and Southwest and Central Delhi saw nine fatalities each. West Delhi and New Delhi reported eight deaths each during the period, the report claimed.