Foggy conditions bringing down the atmospheric temperature have badly hit normal life in Kumaon’s terai region. Poor visibility particularly during night hours has only put the vehicular traffic out of gear. The long-distance travel to places like Delhi, Dehradun and different parts of neighbouring UP is the worst hit. Though it has stopped raining now, fog engulfing the plains of the hill State has also made it difficult for the school children to reach their respective schools during morning hours as almost all the schools are open from January 15 here.
The atmospheric temperature is already low in upper pockets of the Himalayan state, now the foggy conditions have also added to the chill of ongoing winter season in rather hot Terai belt of Uttarakhand putting the temperature below 10 degree celsius. The fact of the matter is that poor visibility caused by the foggy conditions have also led to rise in road mishaps in the region of late.
A person died and three others were injured when a car rammed into a truck near Belbaba Mandir on the Haldwani-Rampur Road on late Saturday night only gives that impression. The deceased has been identified as Pramod, a native of Bareli, aged about 30 year. He used to work in a company in Udham Singh Nagar. On Saturday he had come to Haldwani along with his three friends Yogendra, Arbind and Gajendra.
However, when they were going back to Udham Singh Nagar from Halwani on the fateful night, the car they were travelling in rammed into a truck which was also heading towards Udham Singh Nagar. The injured were taken to the Shushila Tiwari hospital, Haldwani where Pramod was declared brought dead. This mishap also led to traffic jam on the Haldwani -Rampur Road on Saturday night.