North India continues to face cold wave conditions, respite unlikely this week

Severe cold witnessed in several parts of North India is likely to continue for the next few days, with several parts of the national capital recording two to three-degree drop in temperature on Wednesday.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the minimum temperature in the Palam area dropped to 5.2 degrees, dipping 2.0 degrees from the day before. Safdarjung recorded a minimum temperature of 3.5 degrees. It is likely to drop by 1 degree in the next 24 hours in the area.

Thick fog also engulfed several parts of north India including Delhi and Punjab.

Dr Prabhjot Kaur Sidhu, Head of Department of Climate Change and Agriculture Meteorology at the Punjab Agricultural University said that the fog being witnessed in Ludhiana is the worst in the 50 years, and there will be little to no respite from the cold wave in the coming days.

"In the next 1 week and for the new year, we will not get any relief from the cold wave. The thick fog broke records of the last 50 years," Sindhu said.

Farmers in Punjab faced a lot of problems due to poor visibility and the low temperatures, saying that the cold, along with electricity cuts was very difficult to work with.

"We have to water wheat crops barefoot on our fields with the family early in the morning, making our hands numb and painful. There is no electricity during the day so we have to warm up our hands near fires," said a Ludhiana farmer.

As per the IMD, Mount Abu recorded a minimum temperature of -4.0 degrees while Churu recorded -1.5. The minimum temperature in Shimla is expected to be minus 1 degree Celcius and the maximum temperature will remain at 10 degrees Celcius.

( With inputs from ANI )

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