All parts of the country are presently in the grip of bitterly cold weather as mountains have been covered in snow while extremely cold winds are blowing in the country’s plains, making it hard for the people to step out of their homes. While on one hand, snowfall over Babusar Top, Nanga Parbat and in other mountainous areas in the country’s north has turned the weather chillier, road connection between different parts has also been severed.

Temperature in Hunza dropped to -21 on Saturday, while it was recorded at -19 in Astore,-11 in Chilas, and -8 in Kalat. Nighttime temperature has also dropped in Karachi where the minimum temperature was recorded at 8 degrees Celsius on Saturday morning, while it was expected to fluctuate between 24 degrees Celsius and 26 degrees Celsius later in the day. Cold winds are blowing in the city, while the level of humidity in the air was recorded at 40 per cent.

The Met Office predicted that the cold wave in the city would continue for the next two days. On the other hand, fog persists in the plains of Punjab, turning everything murky and prompting the authorities to close different sections of the motorway due to extremely low visibility. M-2 was closed for traffic from Lahore to Balksar; M-3, from Jarranwala to Darkhana; M-4, from Pindi Bhattian to Abdul Hakim, and Gojra to Abdul Hakim; M-5, from Multan to Zahir Pir and Multan to Sukkur.

Dense fog was also reported from Mian Channu, Khanewal, Multan, Basti Malook, Lodhran, Bahawalpur, Ahmedpur East, Tarinda Muhammad Panah, Iqbal Nagar, Rahim Yar Khan and Sadiqabad. Syed Imran Ahmad, spokesman for the Motorway Police, said that the purpose of closing motorways was to protect the lives and properties of people.He advised people to avoid travelling unnecessarily and travel during daytime if it was really necessary. “Journeying between 10:00 AM in the morning and 6:00 PM in the evening is the safest in fog,” he added.

Making it clear to motorists that the violation of lanes in fog could result in accidents, the spokesman urged them to drive in their lanes. Syed Imran also asked road users to turn the fog lights of their vehicles on while driving and drive at a slow speed. “Keep distance from other vehicles.”He asked people to contact on helpline number 130 in case of an emergency.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)