Cold wave to continue in Odisha till Dec 29

Bhubaneswar: An intense cold wave swept Odisha today with frost formation in Daringbadi in Kandhamal district where the mercury dipped below freezing point.

Such condition will continue till December 29 while the mercury is likely to dip further after December 25, Met department said.

Cold wave with dense fog has kept the state till 10 am forcing people to remain indoor. The cold is caused by the wind blowing from north-western direction, Met sources added.

Daringbadi, a high-altitude tourist destination in Phulbani district, saw the mercury sliding to minus 2 degrees Celsius .

"The minimum temperature, which was recorded at minus 1 degrees yesterday, further dropped to minus 2 degrees in the 3,000-ft high Daringbadi block of Kandhamal," said Ajeet Kumar Sahu of the Meteorological Observatory at Berhampur University.

District officials said people in Phulbani, Daringbadi, Khajuripada, Raikia, Balliguda, Kotagarh, and Tumudibandha areas were staying indoors after sunset due to the biting cold.

Kotagarh, Tumudibandha, and Balliguda in the district were also reeling under intense cold, they said.

Meanwhile, the bitter cold weather has resulted in a large number of birds dying in the forests while fish died in tanks and ponds in different parts of the densely forested Kandhamal district.

Other parts of the state also faced biting cold with the temperature sliding to 5.9 degrees Celsius in Sundargarh and 6.4 degrees in Keonjhargarh, while state capital Bhubaneswar recorded 11.2 degrees Celsius, the MeT office here said.