Chandigarh, Jan 21 (IANS) A thick blanket of fog enveloped this union territory and most parts of its neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana Thursday, throwing normal life out of gear.
“Dense fog is prevailing in this region since Wednesday night and there were no signs of it lifting by 9.30 a.m. Due to this, the visibility has reduced to below 50 meters, adversely affecting both rail and road traffic,” said a Met official here.

Most of the trains were delayed at Chandigarh railway station by three to eight hours, and hundreds of passengers were seen stranded there.

Road traffic was also reduced to snail’s pace because of reduced visibility.

Besides foggy weather and overcast conditions, there was also no respite from the bone-chilling cold in this part of the northern plains.

Punjab’s Amritsar city was the coldest in this region Thursday with a minimum temperature of minus 1 degree Celsius — three degrees below average.

Ludhiana and Patiala cities of Punjab registered a minimum temperature of 4.8 and 4.2 degrees Celsius, respectively, Thursday.

The centrally administered city of Chandigarh shivered at 5.1 degrees Celsius, three degrees below average during this time of the year.

“Our department has forecast that similar conditions would continue for the next three-four days. We are also expecting isolated spells of rain in some towns of Punjab and Haryana in the coming days,” said the official.

In the neighbouring state of Haryana, the minimum temperature at Ambala, Hisar and Karnal cities was recorded at 4.3, 4.8 and 4.7 degrees Celsius, respectively.