Cold and fog conditions disrupt daily life in Bihar

Cold day conditions and dense fog in many parts of the state has thrown life out of gear in Bihar with people virtually remaining indoors over the weekend and on Monday, a public holiday on account of Id-ul-Milad Nabi.

At least five people, including two women, died in an accident when their car rammed into a stationary truck on NH 2 due to poor visibility in Aurangabad district of the state.

“The incident took place between 4 am and 5 am due to dense fog. It appears the driver could not see the parked 18-wheeler truck and rammed into it. The car was then hit by another truck from behind and the occupants got sandwiched between the two heavy vehicles,” a local police officer said.

Police sources said the number of road accidents has increased over the last few days after different parts of Bihar started witnessing dense fog and has claimed at least 8-10 lives besides seriously injuring many.

The state disaster management department has already issued an advisory to all district magistrates to make adequate arrangements of night shelters for the homeless.

The district administrations have also been asked to burn firewood at certain public places auto-rickshaw stands, bus and railway stations and regularly monitor and report the situation to the department. “No death related due cold stroke have been reported till Monday afternoon,” department’s joint secretary Anirudh Kumar told DNA.

A number of flights and train operating to and fro Bihar are delayed by several hours daily. The east central railways has also discontinued the service of over two dozen trains once a week to restore their punctuality. Some other mail or passenger trains plying through the zone have also been cancelled for a month.

Meanwhile, with the maximum temperatures plummeting almost 10 degrees below normal and the minimum temperature hovering between seven and 12 degree Celsius, many districts, including Patna, have asked schools to shut down their Montessori sections and reschedule their primary and senior classes from 10 am for the next few days.