Severe cold wave: Schools closed for students till Class VIII in parts of Rajasthan

Schools in Udaipur and Bikaner were closed today, Monday, January 16, owing to the extreme cold wave that is affecting Rajasthan. To protect the students from the extreme cold wave, Prabha Gautam, the additional district collector for Udaipur City, on Sunday, January 15, issued a holiday for all students up to Class VIII from January 16 to 18. She said that all educational institution heads had been informed about the holiday and given orders to follow, as stated in a report by ANI.
 

In response to the cold wave, the district government in Bikaner also decided to close the schools until January 18. On Sunday, temperatures were below-freezing levels in a few parts of Rajasthan stated a report by ANI. 

Shishram Dhaka, the Zonal Director of research at Agricultural Research Station (ARS) in Fatehpur-Shekhawati reported that on Sunday, low temperature of minus 4.7 degrees Celsius was recorded. The district government in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, decided to close schools until January 17 due to the cold wave. Additionally, the Meerut district administration closed all schools for students up to Class VIII till January 17. 

Also, in light of the severe cold and fog in the area, Chandigarh, the Union Territory, has extended the winter break for students up to Class VIII.

According to the weather department, cold waves up to severe cold waves are highly likely to continue through Wednesday, January 18, in portions of Northern India, including the capital city. Meanwhile, in Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi through January 17, cold wave to severe cold wave conditions are quite possible on January 18 as reported by ANI. Notably, IMD has forecasted limited visibility and heavy fog for the next five days over the country's northwest region.
 

On Saturday, January 14  weather department predicted severe to very dense fog for the next five days over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
 

Minimum temperatures are expected to drop by 2-4 degrees Celsius over the northwest and adjacent central India for the next two days due to northwesterly winds from the Himalayas over the plains, according to IMD's prediction.