Fog reduces visibility in parts of north northwest bus accident leaves 3 cops dead in Punjab

    New Delhi, Jan 17 (PTI) Dense to very dense fog conditions prevailed over most parts of north and northwest India, reducing visibility below 50 metres at some places including in Punjab where a bus accident killed three police personnel.
    The IMD said dense to very dense fog and cold to severe cold day conditions are likely to continue to prevail over north India during next four-five days.
    The plains of northwest India are also likely to see cold wave to severe cold wave conditions during the next five days.
    The IMD said minimum temperatures on Wednesday were below normal by one to three notches over many parts of northwest and adjoining east India.
    The minimum temperatures are in the range of 2-5 degrees Celsius in parts of Punjab and Haryana; in the range of 6-10 degrees Celsius in many parts of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, north Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and north Chhattisgarh.
    In Delhi, the minimum temperature was recorded at 5.7 degrees Celsius, two notches below the season's average. This was a slight respite from the last few days, since the temperatures were being recorded below five degrees Celsius.
    A spokesperson for the Indian Railways said 20 trains arriving in Delhi were delayed by up to five hours due to foggy weather.
    At 5:30 am, visibility levels stood at 25 metres in Patiala, Ambala and Bareilly; at 50 metres in Hisar, Churu and Bahraich and 200 metres in Lucknow and Purnea.
     At the Palam Observatory near the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport in Delhi, visibility was only 200 metres.
     Ballowal Saunkhri in Punjab's Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar district recorded the minimum temperature of zero degrees Celsius, according to a report from the Meteorological Department in Chandigarh.
     Among other places in Punjab, Amritsar recorded a low of 2 degrees Celsius while Ludhiana and Patiala experienced cold wave conditions at 2.8 and 4.5 degrees Celsius respectively, which were up to three degrees below normal.
    In neighbouring Haryana, Karnal was the coldest place as it recorded a low of 3.4 degrees Celsius, which was three notches below normal.
    In Punjab's Hoshiarpur, a bus rammed into a stationary truck amid fog, leaving three police personnel dead and 13 others injured.
    The bus, carrying 30 policemen, was going from the Punjab Armed Police institution in Jalandhar to Gurdaspur when the accident took place at around 7 am in Mukerian, 54 km from Hoshiarpur.
    There was some respite from the intense cold conditions in in Rajasthan as the minimum temperature rose slightly at some places in the state on Wednesday. Alwar was the coldest in the state with a minimum temperature of 4.5 degrees Celsius.
    The cold and foggy conditions affected schools operations in some parts with the Gautam Buddh Nagar administration saying classes from nursery to 8 in all schools of Noida and Greater Noida will start at 10 am from January 18 on account of cold weather conditions. Government schools in Noida usually follow a 9 am to 3 pm schedule in winters.
     Up north in Jammu and Kashmir, there was some respite from the intense cold wave as night temperatures rose significantly at most places in the valley. Srinagar city recorded a minimum temperature of minus 2.4 degrees Celsius on Tuesday night, up from the previous night's minus 4.6 degrees Celsius.
     Qazigund recorded a low of minus 3.6 degrees Celsius while the mercury dropped to minus 3.2 degrees Celsius in the ski resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir.
     Pahalgam in south Kashmir's Anantnag district, which serves as one of the base camps for the annual Amarnath Yatra, recorded a minimum temperature of minus 3.9 degrees Celsius.
     The minimum temperature in Kokernag town settled at minus 1.1 degrees Celsius and in Kupwara, at minus 4.3 degrees Celsius.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)