Red alert issued as mercury plunges, dense fog engulfs Haryana, Punjab

India Meteorological Department (IMD) cited the dense fog and cold weather conditions and asked people to take precautions while going out or driving during low visibility

A red alert was issued for Haryana and Punjab on Thursday as dense fog engulfed most parts of the region amid a cold wave with the mercury plunging to 4.5 degrees, the lowest this season, in Gurugram.

In Gurugram, visibility remained poor till 11am before the situation improved slightly. (PTI)

India Meteorological Department (IMD) cited the dense fog and cold weather conditions and asked people to take precautions while going out or driving during low visibility.

IMD (Chandigarh) director Manmohan Singh said the dense fog prompted them to issue the alert for Thursday. He added the fog is likely to continue for the next 24 hours and temperatures were expected to dip further. “The weather is expected to remain dry,” he said.

Singh said cold winds were blowing from the hilly areas and that dense fog will result in colder weather and low visibility. “People should be careful while going out.” He said the lowest temperature in Haryana was recorded in Hisar at 2.2 degrees Celsius.

In Gurugram, visibility remained poor till 11am before the situation improved slightly. The temperatures have been falling in the city over the last four days. On Wednesday, it recorded a minimum temperature of 6.7 and a maximum of 15 degrees Celsius.