The girl students are covering themselves with warm clothes amidst the dense fog on a cold morning. photo ANI
Jagran correspondent, Patna. Due to change in weather due to activation of Western Disturbance, entire North India is in the grip of dense fog and cold wave. On Friday, visibility reached zero at many places due to thick fog from Punjab to Bihar. Due to this, rail, road and air traffic has been affected. In many places the timings of schools and colleges have had to be changed.
All the districts of the state including Patna remained wrapped in fog throughout the day. There was no sunlight anywhere till noon. There was fog everywhere including Patna, Gaya, Bhagalpur, Muzaffarpur, Munger, Chhapra and Purnia. The influence of Kankani continued from cities to villages.
The maximum temperature in the capital fell by 8.6 degrees Celsius below normal. There was only 1.7 degree Celsius difference between maximum and minimum temperatures. Most parts of Jammu and Bihar, known for extreme cold, remained cold.
The temperature of Patna, Bhagalpur, Muzaffarpur and Gaya was three to five degrees less than Jammu's maximum temperature of 20.1 degrees Celsius, due to which cold day like conditions remained.
The lowest minimum temperature in the state was 12.2 degrees Celsius recorded in Gaya city. On Friday, a drop in maximum temperature was recorded in 22 districts including Patna. The highest maximum temperature was recorded in Kishanganj at 25.1 degrees Celsius.
According to the Meteorological Centre, Patna, most parts of the state will remain covered in dense to very dense fog for the next three days. There will be 94 percent humidity in the air and the effect of westerly fog will remain. During this period, Kankani will trouble people throughout the day due to lack of sunlight.
The lowest visibility of 100 meters was recorded in Gaya district of the state. There was dense fog in Patna and Gaya, Bhagalpur, Purnia, Valmiki Nagar and Supaul of the state.
Traffic affected due to fog
Due to fog, life was disrupted and air, rail and road traffic was affected. 32 aircraft were affected due to fog. Air India's flights from Delhi to Patna and from Patna to Delhi remained cancelled.
The flight was delayed from 40 minutes to 3.30 hours. Visibility at Patna airport was recorded at 300 meters in the morning and 1600 meters at 5.30 pm. A pair of Indigo flights from Delhi to Gaya and Gaya to Kolkata remained cancelled.
Aircraft operations were also affected in Darbhanga and Purnia. More than one and a half dozen trains were delayed from their scheduled time by one hour to 27 hours.
Due to fog, visibility will be low in the morning and night. During this period the wind speed is likely to be 30 km per hour. Due to cold wave in Chhapra, schools up to 10th have been closed till 21st December.
Schools will open in Bhojpur from 10 to 3:30. Educational work will be held in Nalanda and Gaya from 9 am to 4.30 pm. Schools will open in Jehanabad from 10 am to 3 pm. This includes all government and private and pre-school, Anganwadi centres.