Delhi Cold Wave: IMD issues orange, yellow alerts; homeless says deprived of facilities

Already reeling under a cold wave since the beginning of the new year in Northwest India, including Delhi-NCR, Punjab, Rajasthan, and Haryana, the India Meteorological Department issued orange and yellow alerts on Wednesday. 

Meanwhile, the orange alert means to “be prepared” to respond to any emergency and the yellow alert signifies that the weather could change. 

Moreover, homeless people in the national capital are complaining about not getting much help from authorities. 

“We are laborers. We feel cold every time, at work and while we are at home as we cannot afford a blanket and are making this survival possible with the help of fire. We came from Bihar to make both ends meet but sometimes it turns difficult as we have no support from the government or anybody,” said one Fasekhtar Alam.

Talking to the media, an auto rickshaw driver named Rajiv Kumar said, if they did not run their rickshaw despite their hands being numb due to the cold, they would die of starvation in a couple of days. 

“The cold is so severe that we are not even able to move our vehicle, it gets really tough to hold the clutch. But we are compelled because if we don’t do this, we will die in two days,” Rajiv Kumar said.

Earlier on Wednesday, due to low visibility, several flights and six trains were running late. 

Barauni-New Delhi Clone Special, Kamakhya-Delhi Brahmaputra Mail, Visakhapatnam-New Delhi Andhra Pradesh Express, Sultanpur -Anand Vihar Terminal Sadbhavana Express, Jabalpur-Hazrat Nizamuddin Gondwana, Manikpur-Hazrat Nizamuddin Uttar Pardesh Sampark Kranti Express, are running late upto 1 hour, as per the Northern Railway. 

The airport authority said on Wednesday that several flights scheduled to depart from Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) were delayed due to fog. 

However, between 18 January and 19 January, some parts of Rajasthan, Punjab, and Haryana, as well as Chandigarh and Delhi, will experience a cold wave or severe cold wave conditions. 

“Cold wave conditions over northwest India likely to abate from January 19. The rainfall/thunderstorm is likely to commence from January 22 and continue till January 25 with peak activity on 23 and 24 January over the plains of Northwest India including Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and North Rajasthan,” the IMD said.

A senior scientist of the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), RK Jenamani, said on Monday that Delhi will experience severe cold wave conditions for two days. 

“The minimum temperature in Delhi has dipped to 1.4 degrees Celsius, with severe cold wave conditions prevailing in Delhi. For the next two days, the same temperature may prevail as the chances of further dipping are unlikely. The temperature may likely go up from January 18,” RK Jenamani said.