Title - Mercury touches three-year low in city

Chandigarh:Bone-chilling cold continued to sting the region today with the mercury dipping to a three-year low in the city.The city recorded a low of 4.2°Celsius today — the lowest in three years — and a maximum of 10.1°Celsius, 9 degrees below normal.The Met department said the weather would remain the same for the next two days. The city will continue to witness foggy mornings and evenings.In the past 13 years, the lowest minimum temperature recorded in the city was 2°Celsius in 2008, and the highest was in 2012 at 10.4°Celsius.The rail traffic remained erratic even today due to a thick blanket of fog. Both the morning trains — Himalayan Queen and Jan Shatabdi — were delayed by 1.40 hours and the morning Shatabdi also arrived 45 minutes late. The vehicular traffic was also affected due to the fog.Met department director Surinder Pal Singh said it was the coldest day in the city after 2010.The homeless are the worst affected as they have to brave the chill in the open. Some rickshaw-pullers said winters were a testing time for them as it was difficult for them to make ends meet.