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Snowfall,
rain bring down temperature
in north India
Shimla/Dehradun/Jammu/Lucknow/Varanasi: A severe winter chill swept across northern India on Sunday, and skies remained overcast with dark clouds bringing the temperature well below the normal. Cold wave conditions intensified after fresh snowfall in Himachal Pradesh. A blanket of snow covered houses across the hilly terrain. The region had witnessed an unusually dry spell this winter. Tourists could be seen enjoying the snowfall in state capital Shimla. "We are feeling very cold. We have come here and it is good to see snowfall after three years," said Rahul Jain, a tourist. Commuters were caught unawares as heavy rains lashed Dehradun, capital of neighbouring Uttarakhand. The higher reaches of the state also received snowfall.
Residents of Jammu , winter capital of Jammu and Kashmir , were forced
to take out their woollen clothes. "It seems December has come back. We
all had packed our winter clothes but now we are taking them out because
of the cold and the rain," said Raj Kumar, a local. Traffic on the Jammu-Srinagar
highway was disrupted for a while due to landslides caused by incessant
rains. The Meteorological department said the rains were likely to continue
for the next 1-2 days and also cover eastern India . "Normally we used
to get rains during December-January because of the western disturbance.
But this time, the disturbance developed in February because of which
we are getting the rains," said, KC Kulshestra, Director, Meteorological
Department, Lucknow . Day temperatures fell by 2-4 degrees Celsius over
plains of northwest India as well. Officials said the mercury was expected
to fall further by 2-3 degree Celsius over the Indo-Gangetic plains during
next three days. Incessant rains brought life to a standstill in the ancient
holy city of Varanasi , with rainwater clogging all the city roads. However,
the showers brought a wave of smile back on the faces of the farmers,
who are now hoping for a bumper crop. "The rain will help wheat crops
which are very small. It will also provide adequate water to the crops
of Bengal gram and other pulses," said, Bundal Singh, a farmer. Agriculture
supports 600 million of India 's 1.1 billion people, but contributes only
a fifth of gross domestic product.
-Feb 11, 2007
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