Rajasthan reels under cold grip; Mount Abu coldest at minus 2.4 deg C

Jaipur: Cold conditions aggravated in parts of Rajasthan where mercury dipped below freezing point at three places and the night temperatures plummeted across the state.
Mercury dipped to minus 2.4 degrees Celsius at Mount Abu, the sole hill station of the state.

In plains, Churu was the coldest places in the state recording a minimum of at minus 0.3 degrees Celsius followed by Alwar which recorded 0.5 degrees and Bhilwara 1 degrees Celsius.

The night temperatures were 4 to 5 degrees below normal and last night was coldest of the season in many areas where severe to very severe cold wave conditions prevailed affecting normal life.

Jaipur recorded a minimum of 3.8 degrees Celsius.

Phalodi, Sikar, Pilani, Sriganganagar and Bikaner recorded minimum of 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3.1 and 3.7 ?degrees Celsius respectively while Ajmer, Jaisalmer, Dabok, Barmer and Kota recorded 4.7, 5, 5.4, 7 and 8.1 degrees respectively.

Ground frost was also there in the areas where mercury settled at or below 4 degrees Celsius, according to MeT department here.

Timings of schools have been revised in Jaipur in view of the severe cold conditions.

District Collector Siddharth Mahajan yesterday issued directions to all the schools to start classes at 9. 30 am. He said action will be taken if schools fail to comply with the directions.

The collector also asked the education officers for the monitoring.

On the other hand, fog affected movement of trains under NorthWest Railway.

The NWR rescheduled Ajmer-Sealdah express while 12 other trains including Howrah-Jodhpur/Bikaner, Agra Fort-Ajmer, Allahabad- Jaipur, Delhi-Jaisalmer express trains are running late, according to the NWR spokesperson.