1 Killed, 10 injured in an accident on Yamuna Expressway in Greater Noida due to dense fog.
One person was killed and 10 others were injured in a pile-up involving a dozen vehicles on Yamuna Expressway in Greater Noida due to poor visibility as dense fog disrupted air, rail and road traffic in northern part of the country even as minimum temperature rose in the region.
Dense to very dense fog occurred at some places over Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. Shallow to moderate fog occurred at isolated places over Assam, Meghalaya, Jharkhand, Bihar, west Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, the MeT department said.
Mainly clear skies prevailed in the national capital even as dense fog was witnessed in early morning hours affecting the movement of rail traffic leading to delay in schedule of 84 trains and rescheduling of 37 others.
The maximum temperature in the city was recorded at 24.5 degrees Celsius, three notches above average, while the minimum was pegged at 8 degrees, normal for this time of the year.
Additional Superintendent of Police of Greater Noida, Abhinandan said the accident took place on Yamuna Expressway in Ecotech 3 police station area early this morning.
Due to low visibility, a car rammed into a tractor-trolley, leading to a pile-up involving 12 vehicles. Mathura-resident Pankaj died on the spot and around 10 others sustained injuries.
In Jammu and Kashmir, Leh recorded 1.5 degrees Celsius, 6 notches above the previous night's 8.2 degrees Celsius, even as mercury rose at many places but the Valley continued to reel under freezing temperatures.
Kokernag in south Kashmir and Kupwara in north were the coldest recorded places in the state last night at minus 4.8 degrees Celsius.
Srinagar, the summer capital of the state, witnessed a low of minus 4.4 degrees Celsius.
The MeT official said there is possibility of light rain or snowfall at isolated places over higher reaches of Kashmir Valley over the next 24 hours.
Kashmir is currently under the grip of 'Chillai-Kalan' considered the harshest period of winter, when the chances of snowfall are most frequent and maximum and the temperature drops considerably.
'Chillai-Kalan', which, began on December 21, ends on January 31 next year, but the cold wave continues even after that.
In Punjab and Haryana, road and rail traffic remain disrupted due to dense fog even as the minimum temperature rose in the region.
Narnaul in Haryana was the coldest place with a low of 4.5 degrees Celsius, one notch below normal. Hisar and Karnal braved cold weather at 6.3 degrees Celsius and 6.2 degrees Celsius, respectively, while Ambala's minimum was 9.3 degrees Celsius, three notches above normal.
Amritsar's minimum was 8 degrees Celsius, five notches above normal while Ludhiana and Patiala recorded their minimums at 5.3 degrees Celsius and 7.4 degrees Celsius respectively.
Chandigarh had a low of 9.2 degree Celsius, three degrees above normal.
In Rajasthan, winter intensified its grip with Sriganganagar reeling under 5.7 degrees Celsius even as dense fog affected road and rail traffic.
Churu followed Sriganganagar with a night temperature of 6.6 degrees Celsius.
Sikar, Mount Abu, Alwar, Dabok recorded minimum of 6, 7, 7.4 and 8.8 degrees Celsius, respectively, while Pilani, Jaipur, Kota and Jaisalmer registered minimum temperature of 9.5, 10.4, 13.2 and 13.8 degrees Celsius, according to the MeT department here.
The temperature in Bihar recorded an upward trend with maximum and minimum registering two degrees Celsius above normal at most places.
The lowest minimum temperature in the state was recorded at 10 degrees Celsius in Sabour of Bhagalpur district.
The maximum temperature of Patna was registered at 27.1 degrees Celsius and the minimum stood at 12.6 degrees Celsius.
The weatherman has predicted light rain across Bihar due to western disturbances in the next three-four days.
In Odisha, its most parts reeled under intense cold accompanied by chilly wind as the minimum temperature fell below 10 degrees Celsius in at least 11 places with 4.3 degrees Celsius, Daringibadi in Kandhamal district, being the coldest place in the state.
The state capital Bhubaneswar recorded a minimum of 13.1 degrees Celsius. Cold wave conditions are likely to prevail for some more days, according to MeT department officials.