Toll 8 as cold wave claims 2 more lives

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, December 23

Bathinda shivered as cold wave conditions continued unabated in the city and its adjoining areas. Two more people died today, taking the death toll due to the extreme cold, to eight.

One unidentified homeless person was found dead at the railway station road, while another was found at the grain market. During the wee hours today, a city-based NGO, Sahara Jan Sewa, received information about an unidentified body lying in a vacant plot on the railway station road. Volunteers of the Life Saving Brigade too received information about a person lying unconscious at the grain market. When the team took the person to the Civil Hospital, he was declared brought dead.

Cold wave has gripped the region with the minimum temperature recorded at 2.5 °C in the past 24 hours. This is the lowest temperature recorded in the city this year so far.

As per the agri-met department of the regional station of the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Bathinda, the temperature has fallen in the past 48 hours. The reason for this is the sudden wind blowing from the north.

Snowfall has been witnessed in the higher reaches due to which chilly winds have started blowing. Minimum temperature has come down further. As such, temperature has fallen all across Punjab. Similar weather conditions will prevail in the next 24 hours.

Those worst affected by the sudden cold wave are the schoolchildren and the homeless. Many schools have not yet changed their winter timings and plan to reschedule it after the break.

Monika Garg, a homemaker, said till recently, the temperature was normal but in the past 24 hours, cold wind has started blowing, creating problems for the people.