Chandigarh, Jan 18 (IANS) Thick fog enveloped most parts of Punjab and Haryana Monday, reducing visibility to below 100 metres and affecting road and rail traffic. The mercury also dipped as a cold wave continued to grip the region.
Punjab’s holy city Amritsar was the coldest in the region with a minimum temperature of 0.4 degrees Celsius, four degrees below average for this time of the season.

Patiala and Ludhiana were comparatively warmer with the minimum temperature being 8.4 and 7 degrees Celsius respectively.

Chandigarh, the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana, recorded a minimum temperature of 5.4 degrees Celsius. The city also saw heavy fog in the morning.

“Dense fog has engulfed this region since Sunday night and it had not lifted until 9 a.m. today (Monday). The fog has reduced the visibility level to below 100 metres, posing a problem for both rail and road traffic,” an official of the meteorological office said here.

“There has been a dip in temperature, especially during night, in Punjab and Haryana. We are expecting a further plunge in temperature because of the cold wave across the region,” he added.

In neighbouring Haryana, Ambala saw a minimum temperature of 6.7 degrees Celsius, Karnal was 7.2 and Hisar town recorded 9.6 degrees.

The intense fog in the region delayed many trains and road traffic was reduced to a crawl due to poor visibility.