With the mercury level falling and foggy conditions prevailing, school timings in various districts of Punjab have been changed while some district authorities have decided to close down the schools for few more days.
Schools in Punjab have re-opened on Tuesday after winter vacations from December 25.
In the wake of intense cold conditions in this part of the region, the Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar (Nawanshahr) Administration has issued directions to keep all the schools, both Government and private, in the region to remain closed for next four days.
As per the decision, the schools will reopen on January 8. “The schools will remain closed from January 3 to January 6 due to dense fog in the region as it decreases the visibility on roads, leading to increase in road mishaps,” said SBS Nagar administrator Amit Kumar in an official statement.
Due to decrease in visibility on roads owing to fog, the Jalandhar and Kapurthala Administration have also directed the school authorities to change the morning timings of the schools. In Kapurthala, the schools would start at 10 am and at 10.30 am in Jalandhar.
Meanwhile, the Jalandhar Deputy Commissioner (DC) Varinder Kumar and Kapurthala DC Mohammad Tayyab also asked the school authorities to ensure the implementation of the orders.
“I asked the higher authorities to close down the district schools for next four days, keeping in mind the dip in temperature,” said Tayyab.
In ludhiana too, all Government, private and Government-aided schools, Anganwadi centres of the district will open at 10 am till January 12 owing to dense foggy weather conditions, read the order passed by the Additional District Magistrate Iqbal Singh Sandhu. The revised timings will remain in force till further orders, it added. The minimum temperatures settled up to four notches below normal in most parts of Punjab.