The city was lashed by bone-chilling winds on Sunday, leaving residents shivering with cold. Cold winds and fog disrupted normal life as the city witnessed a sudden dip in temperature.
Amritsar and its surrounding areas were engulfed in a thick layer of fog throughout the day.
The sky remained overcast and the dense fog affected the movement of flights and trains. Passengers faced a lot of inconvenience as most of the trains and flights got delayed.
Sri Guru Ram Dass International Airport director Suneel Dutt said that the Jet Airways flight 2641 from Delhi to Amritsar was delayed by two hours and 55 minutes and SpiceJet flight 2321 from Amritsar to Delhi by four hours and seven minutes, Jet Airways flight 305 was delayed by three hours, 16 minutes and the Air India flight 461 from Amritsar-Delhi-London by one hour, six minutes.
"The airport of Amritsar is prepared for these weather conditions and is operating on ILS (instrument landing system) category 2. But this system requires aircraft equipped with the same facility and pilots trained accordingly," he said.
Similarly, rail traffic was also disrupted in the city. The Amritsar-Howrah Express as well as the Amritsar-Howrah Mail were more than two hours late.
Meanwhile, the intensified cold wave sent normal life out of gear. Foggy conditions and icy winds kept people indoors. Many people in marketplaces were seen huddled around bonfires.