Three people were killed and 40 were left injured in separate fog-related accidents in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana on Tuesday. Biting cold gripped north India prompting states to take steps like suspending night operations of buses, reducing speed limit in some areas and changing school timings.
Dense to very dense fog engulfed the Indo-Gangetic plains, including Delhi, on Wednesday, lowering visibility in the city and affecting road traffic and train movement.
On Tuesday, the Uttar Pradesh government stopped plying of state roadways buses at night. In view of dense fog, the upper speed limit on the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway has now been fixed at 75 km per hour from 100 km per hour, said officials.
Police said one person died and 24 were injured on Tuesday when a bus collided with a truck amid low visibility due to dense fog on the Yamuna Expressway in Greater Noida. In a separate incident, a truck loaded with lentils hit the divider of the highway and overturned in the Dadri area of Greater Noida, said police.
In another accident, a truck driver was killed and six people were injured in a pile-up involving several vehicles on the Bulandshahr-Aligarh road in Arnia, police said. In Kaushambi, a 25-year-old man who was travelling with his friend on a motorcycle died when their two-wheeler hit a stationary truck near Sayara overbridge on the Prayagraj-Kanpur road.
In Sitapur, eight people were injured when their van hit a stationary truck due to low visibility, police said, adding four passengers were grievously injured in the accident that occurred near Kalli village.
Dense fog on Tuesday morning reduced visibility in most parts of Haryana and Punjab too. Two police vehicles, which were part of Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala’s cavalcade, met with an accident on the Hisar-Sirsa Highway, according to police. All were safe, and a bodyguard sustained injuries.
Meanwhile Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann announced that all schools in the state will open at 10 am from December 21 till January 21 due to the cold.
(With inputs from PTI)
