Gopal Sharma
JAMMU, Jan 20: The winter capital city of the State remained colder than the summer capital, Srinagar, as Jammu recorded seasons lowest day temperature nearly 9 degree Celsius below normal while dense fog enveloped the plain areas of Jammu region and most parts of Punjab, Haryana and Delhi, badly affecting the train and air-services.
No plane could land at Jammu airport before 1.30 pm and all the three morning flights were delayed by two to three hours due to dense fog and poor visibility while an afternoon flight – Indigo was cancelled. It operates between Delhi-Jammu-Delhi. Except one, all the flights operated from Jammu airport today while the timing of most of the flights was rescheduled. Similarly, all the trains were today late by one to five hours, causing inconvenience to the passengers due to foggy conditions since last night. The dense fog crippled the normal life in the entire northern region as vehicle operators were finding very difficult due to poor visibility on the roads.
A Met spokesman told the Excelsior that Jammu recorded the maximum temperature of 9.3 degree Celsius while in Srinagar city the day temperature remained four degree above, that is 13.3 degree Celsius. The normal temperature in Jammu should be 18.6 degree Celsius which indicates that day temperature today went about 9 degree below normal. This is the lowest day temperature recorded in Jammu during this winter season so far. The minimum temperature recorded in Jammu today was 5.6 degree Celsius and it is expected to further fall in next couple of days. It was sunny day in Srinagar and many other hilly towns in Jammu region including Udhampur, Reasi, Katra, Doda, Poonch, Rajouri etc.
The spine-chilling cold has gripped most of the plain area of Jammu region and parts of Punjab as the Sun was not visible during the entire day today due to fog. Most of the people remained confined to their homes during morning hours and were seen clad in heavy woolen clothes during the morning and evening hours. The harsh weather has restricted the free movement of the office goers and school children. The people at most places and farmers at fields were seen warming their bodies by lighting fire to protect themselves from intense cold.
Dr J B Singh, Senior Consultant in the Department of Medicines, Govt Medical College Jammu when contacted issued some precautions for the children, elderly persons and morning walkers. He said that in view of dense foggy conditions and chilling cold the elderly persons and heart, blood pressure and diabetes patients should take extra care. The parents should take special care of the children in these days. They all needed to wear heavy woolen clothes, avoid going out during early morning and late evening. The head should be properly covered and they should take maximum fluids during these days. In such weather conditions, they should take extra precautions because they would be more prone to pneumonia, bad cold, cough and throat infection. They must avoid cold things and consume a little warm water. The morning walkers should avoid running or even brisk walk in the harsh cold and foggy conditions. They can move out for walk bit later when the weather improves. The children going to schools early in the morning are more prone to these above problems besides the old people, Dr Singh maintained.
Meanwhile, Srinagar recorded maximum temperature of 13.3 degree Celsius and the minimum minus 4.4 degree Celsius which is two notches below normal. Although mornings, evenings and nights are cold in Srinagar these days but the days are pleasant due to bright Sun shine.
However ,due to the clear sky, the nights in Kashmir valley are very cold with temperatures dipping several notches below normal.
The Meteorological Department has forecast clear sky for Srinagar and foggy weather in Jammu in next 48 hours.
Temperature at Leh went down by over five notches to minus 16.4 degree Celsius from minus 11.1 degree Celsius of the previous night. The day temperature, however, was recorded at minus 1.3 degree Celsius.
The minimum temperature in Kargil town also decreased nearly four notches to record a low of minus 15.0 degree Celsius against the previous night’s low of minus 11.4 degree Celsius. The day temperature, however, settled at 1.4 degree Celsius.
Katra Mata Vaishnodevi recorded a maximum temperature of 13.6 degree Celsius and minimum 5.0 degree Celsius, Bhaderwah maximum 14.5 deg Celsius and minimum minus 2.4 degree Celsius, Gulmarg in Kashmir minus 7.5 degree Celsius while Pahalgam maximum 9.6 degree Celsius and minimum -7.5 degree Celsius temperature today.
A Railway spokesman said that due to fog, Archna Express was late by five hours. The train which arrives here at around 10.30 am reached Jammu station at 3.30 pm. Shalimar and Jammu Mail trains were late by about an hour, Malwa Express by two and half hours, Jabalpur Express and Kanpur Express by one and half hours, Swaraj Express by one hour and so on. Most of the trains left Jammu station at right time. The foggy conditions have also badly affected the inter-state bus services as most of the vehicles are arriving late.
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