MP reels under cold wave, two dead

Bhopal: The severe cold wave conditions continued for the third day in most parts of Madhya Pradesh on Monday with two deaths reported from Shivpuri and Harda districts. With rain forecast for a couple of days from Tuesday, the state is likely to experience further drop in temperature.

Light to moderate rainfall in likely on Tuesday at isolated places in Bhopal, Raisen, Rajgarh, Vidisha, Sehore, Dhar, Indore, Dewas, Ratlam, Shajapur, Ujjain, Datia, Bhind, Morena, Sheopur, Umaria, Dindori, Katni, Chhindwara, Jabalpur, Balaghat, Narsinghpur, Seoni, Mandla, Sagar, Damoh, Betul, Harda and Hoshangabad districts, according to the India Meteorological Department’s Bhopal senior meteorologist GD Mishra.

“Sardical strike” and “Abki baar Sardi appar” were some enterprising headlines that greeted audiences on electronic media as Bhopal continued to reel under intense cold though the minimum temperature was up one degree against Sunday’s 6 degrees Celsius. This was, however, four degrees below normal.

Gwalior saw mercury dipping to 2 degree Celsius with maximum temperature remaining at 8 degree Celsius, the weatherman said. The minimum temperature touched 2 degree Celsius in Datia and Umaria districts as well.

Dense to very dense fog was experienced over North MP whereas shallow to moderate fog prevailed in Satna, Rewa, Damoh, Datia and other districts. Traffic on the Agra-Mumbai National Highway has been severely affected due to the thick fog that has enveloped the area for the last three days.

Compared with other years, the winter has shown its form in the last week of December this year, whereas in the last year such winter had occurred in January.

Icy winds forced the Bhind district administration to declare holiday for schools till January 4.

According to the police, the body of a 55-year-old person was found near Sikandra barrier on Sunday night near Shivpur. The other person reported dead in Harda was said to be around 35 and remained unidentified.