First snowfall of the season in Kashmir, North India shivering with cold (Photo- ANI)
Jagran News Network, New Delhi. There has been a major change in the weather of North India due to the activation of Western Disturbance. The first snowfall of the season has occurred in Kashmir, while severe cold, dense fog and cold wave have increased the problems of the people in entire North India including Delhi-NCR. The bad weather has also affected traffic and important trips.
Chille Kalan starts in Kashmir from today
Kashmir received its first snowfall of the season and snowfall continues in the upper reaches of Himachal too. There is a possibility of snowfall in Uttarakhand also. 'Red alert' of severe cold has been issued in Uttar Pradesh. The Meteorological Department has warned of dense fog and cold wave for the next one week.
Saturday was the coldest day of this season in Delhi. There is an outbreak of cold wave from Punjab to Bihar and Jharkhand. Due to bad weather, Union Home Minister Amit Shah's visit to Himachal Pradesh (Kangra), where he was to attend the inauguration ceremony of SSB, had to be cancelled. Due to dense fog, many flights had to be canceled and dozens of trains were running late.
Announcement of cold wave continues in Delhi
The Meteorological Department has announced cold wave in Delhi. In the plains, a cold wave is declared when the minimum temperature falls to 4 degrees Celsius or below or is 4.5 to 6.4 degrees below normal. A severe cold wave occurs when the temperature falls 2 degrees Celsius or below or the mercury falls 6.5 degrees below normal.
Dense fog remained prevalent in many districts from Western Uttar Pradesh to Purvanchal from Friday night to Saturday morning. Vehicles kept crawling on highways and expressways. Schools remained closed in many districts including Kanpur and Bareilly. Timings have been changed in the districts of Bundelkhand.
Bulandshahr was the coldest in the state, where the minimum temperature reached seven degrees Celsius. The minimum temperature was 8 degrees Celsius in Lakhimpur Kheri and 8.5 degrees Celsius in Barabanki. The difference between day and night temperatures in Varanasi was the lowest at 3.3 degrees Celsius. There is a strong possibility of rain and snowfall continuing in Jammu-Kashmir-Ladakh during the next three days.
Chille Kalan starting in the valley from today
The 40-day coldest winter period Chille Kalan is starting in Kashmir Valley from Sunday, which will last till January 30. During this period there is heavy snowfall in the valley. The temperature remains below the freezing point, due to which even water sources freeze. While the common people have made their preparations to deal with this situation, the government has also become active. Snow removal machines have also been deployed in snowfall prone areas.
138 flights canceled at IGI Airport, more than 700 delayed
138 flights were canceled due to low visibility at IGI Airport. Of these, there are 69 incoming and 69 outgoing flights. Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) said in a post on Twitter that 'Low Visibility Procedure' has currently been implemented at Delhi Airport. This also includes five international flights.
About 700 planes took off late than scheduled. Due to dense fog, CAT-3B protocol was implemented at the airport from 4:00 am to 12:00 noon to ensure safe landing. 7 flights were diverted to cities like Jaipur, Lucknow and Ahmedabad.
The flight from Delhi to Dehradun was cancelled.
The flight coming from Delhi to Dehradun was cancelled. The flight coming from Bhubaneswar to Dehradun was diverted to Jaipur. Nine incoming and 15 outgoing flights were delayed by 30 minutes to three hours at Patna airport. The plane started landing at Birsa Munda Airport in Ranchi, Jharkhand after 12 noon.
During this period, three flights were cancelled, two for Kolkata and one for Delhi could not take off. Many flights coming to Ranchi from different cities arrived late. Five flights were canceled in Jammu.
More than 70 trains reached Delhi late
More than 70 trains coming to Delhi were delayed by more than two hours. Major long distance trains like Rajdhani, Shatabdi, Vande Bharat, Duronto and Humsafar also could not run on time. New Delhi-Lucknow Tejas Express was delayed by two and a half hours, New Delhi-Kalka Shatabdi by two hours and New Delhi-Rajendra Nagar Rajdhani Express by two hours.