The city continued to shiver on Wednesday as a thick fog enveloped the city till 2 pm.
The local meteorological office has warned that cold wave conditions will prevail. The temperature in the last three days have remained 9.0 degrees, 8.5 degrees and 9.6 degrees (today) which is two-three degrees below normal. The local meteorological office has warned that cold wave conditions will prevail. The visibility due to fog was reduced to 700 metres today morning.
Ramesh Kumar a Tata Steel employee residing at Kaveri road, Sakchi is a regular morning walker who prefers to wake at 5 am and leave for his daily walk at 6 am. From December onwards, the time has been extended to 7:30 am or 8 am because it is still dark at 5 am and the chill does not allow him to get out of the blanket. "I have never missed my morning walk but these days I get late untill the sun gets brighter. Waking at 5 am when it is still dark does not make sense so the time has been delayed. One effect which it has that the walk has to be shorter now because I get ready for office too," said Kumar.
Housewives are the most affected from the chill as they without any option have to work for their families. Many are happy that the schools are closed now and by the time it re-opens, they wish that the temperature increases. Still they get late now and complete their work as soon as possible in the evening so that children can go to bed early. "I generally wake up at 4:30 am but it is 6:30 am now. I prefer taking bath as soon as possible but now I wait till 7:30 am so that I can stand in the sun for sometime. If we have a party or if we prefer going to restaurants, we reach soon at about 7:30 and try to come back by 9:30 pm," said a resident of Sakchi.
“Since dry icy continental winds are dominating the skies and moisture content is very low in the atmosphere. However the temperature will fall in coming days,” said an official. The officials said that similar conditions will continue to prevail in the city in the coming days. The poor people on the streets have been the worst hit by the cold wave. Footpath dwellers and poor were seen cluster around bonfires lit from dry woods, used tyres and even garbage to beat the cold.