The nation’s capital woke up to a bitterly cold Sunday due to a thick layer of fog that hindered traffic flow. Early in the morning, the RK Puram Area’s minimum temperature was measured to be 7 degrees Celsius. In the midst of the bitter cold and dense fog, homeless people and those living on the streets sought safety at government-run night shelters. With nowhere else to go in the cold, Delhi’s night shelters are designed to give homeless people a place to stay while they’re on the streets. For those in need of refuge, the shelters provide food, beds, blankets, and hot water.
On Friday, the city saw the season’s first cold wave day, which, according to the India Meterological Department, is recorded when the minimum temperature goes below 4 degrees Celsius.
Meanwhile, the Indian Meteorological Department issued an alert amid the bone-chilling cold.
“Very dense fog layer extends over Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, North Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh. Passengers on highways need to drive extremely carefully and only with fog lights,” the IMD posted from its X handle.
“Journeys need to be halted until fog reduction by morning especially on expressways. Very Dense fog reporting over Amritsar, Chandigarh, Patiala, Ambala, Ganganagar, Palam, Safdarjung, Lucknow with visibility 0 meter since 0230 hrs IST of today,” it added.
The fog is likely to prevail during the morning hours in isolated pockets of northwest India during the next three to four days, the Met agency said.
As the weather forecasting agency predicted dense to very dense fog on Sunday, the Delhi Police urged motorists to drive carefully amid low visibility.