Kolkata:
The city experienced the coldest day of the season this morning with the mercury level sliding
down to 10.2 degrees Celsius, four degrees below normal, as most districts of West Bengal reeled under a cold wave.
The intense cold spell will continue for another 48 hours in the city and neighbouring areas, the regional Meteorological centre said.
The dip in mercury levels has been blamed on the incursion of chilly winds from the central Indian states which are experiencing severe cold for the last few days.
The coldest temperature in recent years in the city was on January 3, 2004, when the mercury dipped to 9.3 deg C, the weatherman said.
Most of the districts, including Bankura, Birbhum and Murshidabad, are already reeling under the severe cold wave with mercury levels hovering between 6 and 4 deg C in the region.
Meanwhile, pilgrims for the Gangasagar mela have started arriving in the city's Babughat area, where the state government has arranged camps and shanties to protect them from the cold wave.
The pilgrims will take a holy dip at the confluence of the Bay of Bengal and the Ganges on the occasion of Makar Sankranti on January 14.