Fog's 'red signal': Delhi-UP people be careful! IMD alert for 10 states

New Delhi: Cold has started showing its true colors in North India. While water has turned into ice in the hilly areas, fog has put a brake on the pace of life in the plains. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a serious warning for tomorrow i.e. the morning of 12th December. If you are thinking of going on a long journey tomorrow morning, then be careful, because there is a possibility of ‘very dense’ fog in many parts of the country.

‘Very dense’ fog in UP, alert in 10 states

According to the Meteorological Department, the morning of December 12 can be difficult for the people of Uttar Pradesh. There is a possibility of ‘Very Dense Fog’ here, due to which visibility can go down to zero. Apart from this, an alert of ‘dense fog’ has also been issued in North East states including Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh and Odisha – Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura. The Meteorological Department has advised people to use fog lights and be extremely careful while driving in the morning.

Severe cold in NCR, mercury dropped by 2 degrees

The severity of winter is increasing in Delhi-NCR also. A drop of 2 degrees was recorded in the temperature on Wednesday night, after which the minimum temperature reached 8 degrees Celsius in many areas. IMD estimates that between December 11 and 13, the day temperature will be between 23-24 degrees and the night temperature will be between 8-9 degrees. Cold winds have increased the chill.

Half of India will be covered in fog, IMD alert from UP-Bihar to North East. (File: PTI)

Difficulty in breathing: pollution hits with cold

The people of Delhi-NCR are being hit double. On one side there is severe cold and on the other side there is poisonous air. There has been a slight improvement in the Air Quality Index (AQI) due to strong winds, but the situation still remains in the ‘poor’ to ‘very poor’ category.

Ghaziabad: AQI was recorded at 375 in Loni and 319 in Vasundhara.

Delhi: AQI was 335 in Bawana and 332 in Ashok Vihar.

Noida: AQI 332 was recorded in Sector-116. Due to fine particles present in the air, people are facing problems like sore throat and eye irritation.

Water accumulated in Gangotri, people are drinking it after melting it.

The condition of the mountains is worse than the plains. It is extremely cold in Gangotri National Park of Uttarakhand. In high altitude areas like Gangotri Dham, Cheerwasa and Kankhu Barrier, the temperature has gone so far below zero that the water sources have completely frozen. The forest workers and local villagers posted there have to make water by melting snow for drinking and use. Despite this, the Forest Department team is patrolling diligently and has also installed trap cameras to monitor rare animals.

dry cold in west bengal

The Meteorological Department has also issued an update for West Bengal. The weather will remain dry in the state for the next seven days. Darjeeling recorded the lowest temperature of 6.2 degrees Celsius, while Sriniketan (Birbhum) was the coldest in the plains, where the mercury dropped to 10 degrees. The minimum temperature in Kolkata was 15 degrees and there is a possibility of light fog in the morning.