The plains of Uttar Pradesh shivered on Sunday with Kanpur recording a minimum temperature of 1 degree Celsius, which was five degree below normal.
Met officials said that Kanpur was the coldest place on Sunday with mercury plummeting to 1 degree Celsius. “Though the weather was dry across the state, all the cities recorded below normal temperature,” he said.
lucknow recorded a minimum temperature of 4 degrees Celsius which was 4 degrees below normal while Allahabad shivered at 3 degree Celsius and Bareilly at 6.4 degree. In Gorakhpur, the minimum temperature was 5 degrees Celsius while it was 6.1 degree in Varanasi.
The weather during the past 24 hours was dry over the state and fog appeared at isolated places. Similar conditions are predicted for the coming 24 hours. The minimum and maximum temperature is also expected to remain between 6 degrees and 21 degrees, the weatherman said.
Fog affected rail, road and air traffic. A Railways spokesman said that over a dozen trains were running late by more than 12 hours. A new rail schedule has been released where some trains have been cancelled and others rescheduled. Fog has also affected air traffic with morning flights being delayed on Sunday,
Meanwhile Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has asked officials to arrange for bonfires and blankets to protect the poor and homeless from the biting cold. An official spokesman said that the local administration has been asked to arrange shelter for homeless. laxity on part of officials will not be tolerated and they would be punished,” he said.
He said that the statet government has released Rs 17 crore for blankets. Besides it Rs 1.70 crore has been arranged for bonfire. Every tehsil has been allocated Rs 5 lakh for purchase of blankets and Rs 50,000 for arranging firewood. Besides, DMs have been asked to visit shelter homes in rural and urban areas to ensure proper health care facilities.