As the northern part of the country is grappling with the brunt of a cold wave, the Gautam Buddh Nagar administration today, Saturday, January 6, released an order for all the schools surrounding Noida and Greater Noida to observe holidays up to Class VIII till January 14, as per PTI reports.

District Education Board issues strict orders

Due to the prevailing dense fog and persistent cold weather conditions, the District Basic Education Officer Rahul Panwar made the announcement and added that the order stands applicable to all schools recognised by the state board, Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE), International Board (IB), and others.

The notice stated, "In compliance with the instructions given by District Magistrate Maneesh Kumar Verma in view of the dense fog and extreme cold, all the board (CBSE/ICSE IB, UP Board and others) affiliated schools (from Class nursery to 8) running in the district Gautam Buddh Nagar, will observe holiday till January 14."

Minimum temperatures to further dip

As the minimum temperatures in parts of Western Uttar Pradesh dipped to single-digit figures, the district Education Officer added that the rules must be strictly followed.

Meanwhile, District Inspector of Schools (DIOS) Dharmveer Singh said the timings for Classes IX to XII will be from 10 am to 3 pm during the time.

On Saturday, January 6, Gautam Buddh Nagar recorded a minimum temperature of nine degrees Celsius and is expected to remain between nine and 13 degrees over the next six days, reports PTI.

In a sub-divisional warning, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted cold wave conditions, along with fog, followed by thunderstorms, lightning, squalls and fog on Tuesday, January 9.