Jharkhand schools to remain closed till Jan 14 due to cold wave

Ranchi (Jharkhand) [India], January 8 : In view of the increasing cold wave in North India, the Jharkhand government on Sunday issued a notice to close both government and private schools for students of Classes KG to 5 in the state till January 14. Regular classes will resume on January 16.
"In view of the cold wave conditions, schools in Jharkhand will remain closed for students from KG to standard 5 till January 14 and regular classes will resume from January 16," the Government said in the notice.
Several states' education departments have issued orders to keep schools closed.
Earlier, the District Magistrate of Patna, Chandrashekhar Singh on Saturday issued a notice to close both government and private schools up to Class 10 in the state till January 14.
"In view of the cold wave conditions, schools in Patna will remain closed for students up to Class 10 till January 14," the DM said in the notice.
For the last few days, a huge temperature drop has been recorded in the entire Bihar including Patna. In view of this, orders have been issued to close the school.
Meanwhile, the IMD said that cold wave/severe cold wave conditions are very likely in some parts of Punjab, Haryana-Chandigarh-Delhi, north Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
"Cold Day to severe cold day conditions reported at most places over Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh; at many places over Bihar; at a few places over North Rajasthan and North Madhya Pradesh. Cold Day conditions were also reported at a few places over Delhi," IMD said.
IMD on Saturday also issued a red alert for the next 24 to 48 hours, warning of severe cold in parts of North India, including Delhi.
Delhi recorded a minimum temperature of 2 degrees Celsius on Saturday.
In an exclusive interview with ANI, RK Jenanmani, a weather scientist at IMD said, "The Delhi University's Ridge area recorded a minimum of 1.5 degrees Celsius today, which is the lowest recorded this season."
The official weather station for the Capital, Safdarjung, recorded a minimum temperature of 2.2 degrees Celcius, while Lodhi road logged 2 degrees Celcius.
Jenanmani said severe cold conditions are prevailing in Delhi-NCR and parts of the national capital are, in fact, colder than some popular tourist destinations in the sub-Himalayan region.
"The western disturbance, which was expected to break this cold spell, hasn't been too effective. A vast swathe of the North Indian belt, including Delhi, North Madhya Pradesh, North Rajasthan, Punjab and Western Uttar Pradesh, are colder than Shimla, Manali and the western Himalayan region where the minimum temperature has increased," he said.
He added that dense fog prevails in a vast area of North Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana and Delhi.
"Churu in Rajasthan reached freezing point while the temperature of Nowgong in Madhya Pradesh's Chhattarpur district reached sub-zero, at 0.5 degrees Celcius. Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh recorded 2.2 degrees Celcius and Hisar in Haryana recorded the lowest in the state, at 2 degrees Celsius," he said.
He added, "The Indian Meteorological Department has issued red alerts for the next 24 to 48 hours, warning of severe cold in North India and dense fog for North Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana Chandigarh, Delhi and western Uttar Pradesh. An 'orange alert will also be in place for January 8 to 9. After that, the severe cold is likely to abate. We expect the Western Disturbance to take effect from January 10 and there will, hence, be some respite from the cold from January 9."
"For the next 48 hours, people are advised to take all the safety measures and avoid stepping out, unless it is very urgent," Janemani said.