Cold wave tightens grip in Uttarakhand, Mussoorie receives snowfall

Dehradun: The picturesque town of Mussoorie and its neighbouring areas were covered with thick sheets of snow drawing hordes of tourists as cold wave, sweeping Uttarakhand, tightened its grip with mercury plummeting at several places.
Though there was a bit of sunshine in Dehradun, it remained wrapped in a thin veil of mist throughout the day, making people shiver.

With Mussoorie receiving the first snowfall of the season yesterday to the sheer delight of tourists, visitors made a beeline to the famous hill resort and its neighbouring Laltibba and Dhanaulti areas to be in the lap of snow-clad environs.

Mussoorie’s roads were chock-a-block with vehicles and tourists poured out in large numbers to make merry in city’s sylvan surroundings.

Tehri was the coldest place in the state recording a low of 0.8 degree Celsius followed by Mukteshwar (1.6 degrees), Pithoragarh (2.6 degrees C) and Mussoorie (2.7 degrees C), the weather office said.

Though there were no reports of fresh snowfall in the higher reaches today, icy winds blew across Uttarakhand intensifying the cold in plains of Garhwal region including Dehradun which recorded a minimum of 5.7 degrees C, making people lit bonfires to warm themselves.

Mussoorie and neighbouring areas were covered under thick sheets of snow and, although the sun was out in state capital Dehradun, the city remained covered by a thin veil of mist throughout the day. The state capital recorded a low of 5.7 degrees.

Tehri was the coldest place in the state with a low of 0.8 degrees followed by Mukteshwar (1.6 degrees), Pithoragarh (2.6) and Mussoorie (2.7).

In the plains, minimum temperatures hovered close to normal across Punjab and Haryana.

Union Territory and the common capital of Chandigarh recorded a low of 8.1 degrees C while Ambala in Haryana saw the mercury settle at 8.9 degrees C.

In Punjab, Amritsar recorded a low of 7 degrees with Patiala and Ludhiana at 10.8 and 9.2 degrees, respectively.

In Uttar Pradesh, meanwhile, a death was reported due to the cold in Shamli district where a three-year-old child succumbed to the chill at a private riot relief camp.

The child died due to cold at Manna Majra village under the Kairana police station, a camp official said.

Light rainfall and thundershowers were reported at isolated places in the Moradabad division while the minimum fell appreciably in the Lucknow division.

The lowest minimum recorded in UP was 5 degrees at Nazibabad.

Dense fog continued to disrupt normal life in most parts of Rajasthan for the third consecutive day today with poor visibility hitting surface traffic.

As many as 31 trains were running late while six trains had to be rescheduled due to heavy fog.

Bikaner shivered at 4.5 degrees followed by Jaisalmer and Sriganganagar with identical lows of 7.2 degrees.