Biting cold leaves a trail of misery in Uttar Pradesh where minimum temperature dropped by eight degree below normal bringing normal life to a halt.
At least 21 more people were killed in cold related incident in last 24 hour taking the toll to 159, official said. All educational institutions across Uttar Pradesh have been closed and advisory has been issued by health department asking aged and children to stay indoors. Five deaths were reported from Bahraich, 4 each from Gonda and Chitrakoot, three each from Gorakhpur and Agra. An elderly person was found dead in Najibabbad railway station and a body of beggar was recovered from Varanasi.
Regional Met Office said that the cold wave would continue and the foggy conditions would further intensify in the coming days. With day temperatures dropping to 11-12 degrees Celsius in most parts of the state, the cold wave is getting harsher with every passing day, the official said. Heavy fog in the morning disrupted rail and road traffic in the state.
The trains were running four to 20 hours behind schedule. Railways spokesman Alok Srivastava said that 11 trains have been cancelled and 20 others have been rescheduled. In lucknow more than four dozen trains were running late, with the Kota-Patna Express setting a new record of a 38-hour delay, railway official said.
Due to the dense fog, both in Delhi and in lucknow, flights could only land at the Chaudhary Charan Singh airport in the state capital in the afternoon.
Temperature has dropped drastically in major cities of Uttar Pradesh with Churk in Mirzapur recorded 0.6 Degree Celsius. Uttar Pradesh, a home to 200 million people, is one of the most impoverished states of India. Over 20 per cent of the people are homeless and are forced to live in open. Braving this cold is a real test of endurance for these people who live on the pavements and sleep under trees, sometimes in the open, covering their body with plastic sheet.
“We are poor. We do not have a roof over our head. We light bonfires and sit around it,” said Vinod Ram Chaudhry. “The stray dogs give us the company as they come and join us and sit around the fire. Without this fire we will die,” he said. Meanwhile, three people lost their lives and 40 other injured in
different accidents that took place due to dense fog. In Bulandshahr and Agra, 40 people were injured when more than 30 vehicles collided
with each other due to fog.
Police sources said that the incident occurred on the flyover on National Highway 91 after a collision between a mini-buys and a truck. A report from Meerut said that three people travelling on an auto -rickshaw were killed when a car crushed them on Partapur bypass this morning due to fog. The deceased were identified as Sunil (26), Jitan( 27) and Rohtas(45).
Another report from Agra said that 10 vehicles collided with each other on the Yamuna Expressway this morning in which 15 people were injured. The injured were admitted to the hospital.