Sun brings cheer to many, but cold wave continues in north India (Round)

NEW DELHI - While a bright sun cheered the winter-hit people in the national capital and many north Indian cities Wednesday, bitter cold and heavy fog continued to haunt others elsewhere.

Even as the sun broke Delhi’s winter gloom, Kolkata in the east suffered its coldest day in seven years with the temperature dipping to below 10 degrees Celsius.

The cold wave in the West Bengal capital from Tuesday night stung its slum and pavement dwellers, forcing them to spend the night and early morning around bonfires.

Uttar Pradesh, where the winter toll climbed to 110 with seven more deaths reported Wednesday, continued to be in the grip of the cold wave.

Despite the persisting chill, a comparatively warmer day saw Delhi’s streets, parks and shops pulling crowds under the bright sun.

The day was more cheerful than Tuesday when the sun greeted people first time after over a long spell of bitterly cold, foggy and cloudy days.

The city had shallow fog early morning that cleared soon without causing problems to the flight operations at the Indira Gandhi International Airport. The day got warmer with the maximum temperature rising to near 20 degrees Celsius.

People were out on the terraces and balconies soaking as much sun as possible before proceeding for the day’s work. Morning walkers also had a cheerful day.

The homeless pavement dwellers too welcomed the much-needed break from chill. The city parks and other open spaces saw more people in the morning than on previous days.

However, in Chandigarh thick fog disrupted life. Road and rail traffic was again affected in city, according to officials.

Freezing cold and fog have been hitting the residents of the city hard for over 10 days, with roads posing dangers in the poor visibility morning hours.

Amritsar was the coldest city in Punjab (1.6 degrees) followed by Ludhiana (1.9 degrees) while Hisar (2.8 degrees) remained the coldest town in Haryana.

The hills of Himachal Pradesh experienced another sunny day Wednesday with a further marginal rise in the mercury. The minimum temperature in Shimla recorded a rise of 1.2 degrees to stay at 6 degrees.

The upper hills, however, continued to reel under sub-zero temperatures.

Towns in Jammu and Kashmir also remained under the grip of bitter cold. Overcast skies brought down the temperature to sub-zero 0.5 degree in Srinagar while it was 4.2 degrees in Jammu.

According to the weather office, moderate to heavy snowfall was expected in the valley in the coming days.

The minimum temperature in Kolkata was 9.9 degrees. The last time the mercury dropped below 10 degrees in the eastern metropolis was Jan 6, 2004, when the minimum temperature was recorded at 9.4 degrees.

The weather office blamed the winds blowing through the north and central states for Kolkata’s bitter chill. The condition is expected to improve before the weekend, according to an official.