'La Nina' effect freezes life in city

The return of coldwave in the region is threatening to put brakes on train and bus services again. While the weather scientists are attributing the effect to La Nina factor that has pushed northern parts of the country under coldwave conditions, the cold has already started to give sleepless nights to railway authorities that had been expecting normal train movements after this month.As many as six long distance trains including Varanasi-New Delhi Shivganga Express, Kashi Vishwanath Express, Jodhpur-Varanasi Marudhar Express, Jammu-Varanasi Express and Doon Express arrived late at Cantonment railway station on Sunday. Bus passengers preferred journey during the day while bus services from Roadways bus depot remained hampered at night.The return of cold conditions is definitely threatening to affect train movement, especially on long distance routes in northern parts of the country."New Delhi-bound Sitamarhi-New Delhi Lichchvi Express has been cancelled till January 31 on precautionary basis, but the cold conditions are promising to affect movements of additional trains passing from the region," said Ashok Kumar, public relation officer, NER (Varanasi division)."So far, only limited trains have been cancelled but if same (weather) conditions prevailed for long, schedule of many other trains might be disrupted," he added.It may be mentioned here that a total of 25 pairs of trains including VIP train Shivganga Express pass through NER (Varanasi division) that is stretched over 1,200 km, covering east UP region and some parts of Bihar. In addition, the Cantonment railway station witnesses more than two dozen pairs of north-bound trains that crosses daily from the station, making it one of the busiest stations in east UP region.According to SN Pandey, weather scientist, BHU, the entire north-western parts of the country is under coldwave conditions facing double attack of La Nina in this winter season."The effect not only brings cold winds from Mediterranean Sea that reduces the temperature by 3 to 5 degrees C, the winds also force their way from parts of Europe to cross Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan before reaching India. The Western disturbances and fresh snowfall in the Himalayan region could be attributed to the impact of La Nina and it also promises to prolong winter, pushing it till the month of March this year," he added.The La Nina, a Spanish word meaning 'the girl', is associated with cold winds that bring monsoon in south-east Asia. The opposite of La Nina is El Nino, meaning 'the boy', which brings spate of dry and droughty winds lacking moisture in the air.As per records of regional Met office, the sudden turn of weather conditions are becoming evident as the mercury has started dipping in the region.The report indicates that while the maximum temperature has dropped from 21.9 degree C on January 20 to 17.2 degree C on Saturday (January 21), the minimum temperature has dipped from 10.2 degree to 6.4 degree C in the corresponding period.