With the cold weather intensifying in the national capital, those without a roof over their head are taking refuge at night shelters in government hospitals and other places to keep them safe from the bone-chilling cold during the early hours and late night.
Night shelters at Safdarjung Hospital and AIIMS provide refuge to homeless people around the area as well as to those who come with patients from outside Delhi. Besides, many shelters under the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board and run by different NGOs also provide shelter to people amid the chilly weather.
Roadside dwellers are braving the biting cold by sitting around bonfires to keep themselves warm. The minimum temperature was recorded at 6.2 degrees Celsius on Friday morning even as moderate fog enveloped several areas in the city.
Due to dense fog around the Palam area during the early morning hours, the visibility was reduced to as much as 200 metres at several places in the city. According to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), visibility was recorded at 300 metres in the morning hours.
The weather forecast indicates a partly cloudy sky with possibility of very light rain or drizzle during night which could lead to further drop in mercury level and bring more misery to people.
The Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology said that the city might register a drop in the wind speed as the predominant surface wind is likely to come from the Northeast/Southeast directions with a wind speed of 04-08 km per hour.
The cold conditions continue to prevail across the northern region With fall in the mercury levels, As per the weatherman, the minimum temperature during the past 24 hours till 8.30 am on Friday ranged between 4-8 degrees Celsius over most parts of Punjab, Haryana-Chandigarh-Delhi and North Rajasthan.