Cold wave to continue; Phulbani shivers under blanket of fog

Bhubaneswar/Phulbani: Normal life in interior and southern parts of Odisha will continue to be affected due to severe cold wave as the weather department forecast the same condition to prevail for two-three more weeks.

The night temperature is likely to rise a little after December 23 for some quite some days and then after the mercury will come down again, a MET official said.

Extreme cold condition is prevailing in south and interior pockets of the State for last two-three days. Kandhamal district was severely hit with mercury level falling to 4.6 degree Celsius on Sunday night, the lowest in the season.

The cold wave condition swept and paralysed daily life in Phulbani, G Udayagiri, Balliguda, Daringbadi, Kotagarh and Tumudibandha blocks.

Phulbani, the district headquarters town of Kandhamal, registered the lowest temperature of the season with a minimum temperature of 4.6 degrees Celsius. The highest temperature was recorded at 20 degrees Celsius in Phulbani, local Meteorological Observatory officials said.

Daringbadi recorded a low of 4.8 degrees Celsius on Sunday night. A thick blanket of dense fog enveloped the entire district.

Reports of fishes and birds found dead were received from different parts of the district, particularly from the high altitude of the region.

Snowfall is expected in Belghar and Daringbadi as night temperature has been gradually falling for the last three days, an official said.