Dense fog kills 13 in road mishaps in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar

New Delhi: At least 13 people were killed in road mishaps in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar with dense fog affecting visibility in north India even as cold wave conditions in Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir intensified further due to a fresh spell of snowfall. Early morning fog in Delhi led to the cancellation of 16 trains and 90 were running late. However, normal flight operations were reported at the IGI Airport. The city recorded a minimum of 11 degrees Celsius and a high of 27.1 degrees Celsius. Wintry chill tightened grip over parts of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and a thick cover of fog persisted over the region. [caption id=“attachment_3153010” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. PTI[/caption] Eight persons were killed in separate mishaps amid foggy conditions in Uttar Pradesh’s Noida, Kakori and Malihabad areas, police said. The MET department said shallow to moderate fog was witnessed at most places in the state in the past 24 hours. Hamirpur district was the coldest with the minimum temperature settling at 8.2 degrees Celsius. Five persons, including two women, were killed when their car rammed into a stationary truck on National Highway 2 due to poor visibility in Bihar’s Aurangabad district. Dense fog hit normal life at several places in Haryana and Punjab though the minimum temperature was recorded above the normal limit at most places. Normal movement of vehicular traffic was affected at many places in the two states due to fog and several trains were reported running late due to reduced visibility. Fog and haze resulted in 15 vehicles crashing into each other near Dhantori village on GT Road in Haryana’s Kurukshetra district. There were no reports of injury to anyone yet, police said. The cold wave sweeping parts of Himachal Pradesh intensified further following moderate snowfall in high mountain ranges and passes. The Rohtang, Kunzam and Saach passes, sprawling Dhauladhar ranges and higher reaches in tribal belt and Kullu district had another spell of moderate snowfall causing a drop of three to five degrees in the minimum temperature. The high altitude tribal areas reeled under piercing cold wave conditions as mercury stayed between minus six and minus 10 degrees. Moving further in north, the night temperature in the Kashmir Valley dipped after a day’s respite with the mercury settling below freezing point at most places, including Leh, which was the coldest place in Jammu and Kashmir at minus 11.4 degrees. The Meteorological Department here has predicted mainly dry weather in the state for the week ahead which could lead to a further drop in night temperature. Srinagar recorded minimum temperature of 0.1 degrees Celsius. Gulmarg in north Kashmir witnessed a fresh spell of rainfall and had a low of minus 3.4 degrees Celsius, while Pahalgam shivered at minus 4.2 degrees Celsius.