Delhi reels under biting cold as mercury plunges to season's lowest
New Delhi (PTI): Delhi recorded its coldest morning of this winter season on Friday, with a biting chill gripping the city as the minimum temperature plunged to its lowest level so far, even as trace rainfall was reported at several places across the national capital.
The minimum temperature settled at 4.6 degrees Celsius, about 2.3 degrees Celsius below the seasonal normal, marking the coldest morning of the season.
Weather stations across the city also reported trace rainfall during the early hours, adding to the wintry conditions.
Station-wise data showed that Safdarjung recorded a minimum temperature of 4.6 degrees Celsius, 2.3 degrees Celsius below the seasonal normal, while Palam logged 5.0 degrees Celsius, 1.5 degrees below normal. Lodhi Road recorded a minimum of 5.2 degrees Celsius, 0.8 degrees below normal, while the Ridge station reported 5.4 degrees Celsius, 1.2 degrees below normal.
Ayanagar was the coldest among the listed stations, with the minimum temperature dipping to 4.8 degrees Celsius, 1.2 degrees below the seasonal average.
As for rainfall, Safdarjung and Lodhi Road recorded trace rainfall during the past 24 hours till 8.30 am, while Ayanagar received 0.8 mm of rainfall.
No rainfall was recorded at Palam and the Ridge station during the same period.
According to the Regional Weather Forecasting Centre, drizzle is likely at a few places in Delhi, including Akshardham, Lodhi Road, Nehru Stadium, R K Puram, Defence Colony, Lajpat Nagar, Tughlakabad, IGNOU, Ayanagar and Deramandi.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD), in its All India Weather Summary and Forecast Bulletin, said cold wave conditions are likely to persist over parts of north and northwest India, including Delhi-NCR, over the coming days.
"It is a chilly morning but no cold wave conditions are threatening yet," an IMD official said.
The maximum temperature in Delhi is expected to hover around 17 degrees Celsius.
Thursday marked the third coldest morning of the season as the mercury at the city's base station Safdarjung dipped to 5.8 degrees Celsius, 1.1 degrees below normal.
The second lowest minimum temperature of the season was recorded on December 4 and 5 last year at 5.6 degrees Celsius, followed by December 1, when it stood at 5.7 degrees Celsius.
Delhi had earlier recorded its first cold day of the season on January six, when the maximum temperature plunged to 15.7 degrees Celsius, 3.3 degrees Celsius below normal, while the minimum temperature settled at 7.6 degrees Celsius.
Cold day conditions persisted on Wednesday as well, with the maximum temperature recorded at 16.7 degrees Celsius, 2.3 degrees Celsius below normal, and the minimum at 8.6 degrees Celsius.
According to the IMD, cold day conditions are declared when the minimum temperature remains below 10 degrees Celsius and the maximum temperature falls 4.5 to 6.4 degrees Celsius below normal, while cold wave conditions are declared when the minimum temperature drops by 4.5 to 6.4 notches below normal.
Meanwhile, Delhi's air quality remained in the 'very poor' category, with the Air Quality Index (AQI) recorded at 325. As many as 26 monitoring stations reported 'very poor' air quality, deteriorating from poor levels recorded a day earlier.
As per the Central Pollution Control Board's classification, an AQI between 0 and 50 is considered 'good', 51 to 100 'satisfactory', 101 to 200 'moderate', 201 to 300 'poor', 301 to 400 'very poor' and 401 to 500 'severe'.
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Ballari violence: Were cops made scapegoats to cover political failure?
Bengaluru: Across Karnataka, a serious discussion has begun after the violence in Ballari and the swift action taken against police officers who were on the ground that day. The core question being asked is simple: when law and order fails, why are police officers the first to be shown the door, while political responsibility is quietly pushed aside?
The January 1 clash in Ballari was not a sudden street fight. It was a political confrontation involving supporters of two sitting MLAs. A banner related to the unveiling of a Valmiki statue became the flashpoint. What followed was stone-pelting, firing, and the death of a Congress worker. The situation spiralled within hours.
Within a day, Ballari SP Pavan Nejjur was suspended. Soon after, senior officers were reshuffled. Deputy Inspector General of Police Vartika Katiyar was transferred. No official reason was cited in the notification. But the timing made one thing clear: accountability, at least on paper, had been fixed.
Since then, there has been unease within police circles and political debate outside it.
Unconfirmed reports that Nejjur attempted suicide after his suspension were firmly denied by senior officers and the home minister. They said he was safe, resting, and under stress. Still, the very fact that such reports gained traction says something about the pressure officers feel when action is taken overnight, without public clarity.
Opposition leaders have called Nejjur a scapegoat, pointing out that he had taken charge only hours before the violence. They have asked how an officer can be blamed for a political clash he barely had time to assess. They have also drawn parallels with earlier incidents where police leadership was suspended after tragedies, while political decision-making remained untouched.
However, responding to this criticism, Home Minister G Parameshwara rejected the argument that the suspension was unfair because Nejjur had assumed charge only hours earlier. “It is not important whether he reported to duty on the same day (of incident) or one hour back. Duty is duty. He is not new to the department. IPS officers are trained to handle such situations any time. If he had acted swiftly and promptly, he could have prevented the situation from escalating.” He had said adding that Nejjur did not discharge his duties properly and that this was the reason for his suspension.
Now, fresh and unconfirmed reports suggest that Vartika Katiyar may have met a senior cabinet minister, questioning why she was made to pay the price for a situation that was political in nature. There is no official confirmation of this meeting. But the talk itself has added fuel to the debate.
What is being discussed in the state is not whether the police made mistakes. Many acknowledge that the situation on January 1 was mishandled. A clash earlier in the day was allowed to cool down without strong preventive action. Later, a banner came up near a politically sensitive location. The crowd should not have been allowed to build up. Better anticipation was needed.
At the same time, critics are asking whether the entire burden can be placed on officers when the trigger itself was political rivalry. Who installed the banner? Who mobilised supporters? Who had armed private gunmen present at the spot? These are questions that are still part of the investigation, yet administrative punishment moved faster than political accountability.
This has led to a wider comparison with past incidents, including the Bengaluru stampede after the RCB victory celebrations. There too, police officers were suspended after lives were lost, while decisions taken at higher levels were defended as unavoidable. Many are now saying Ballari fits into the same pattern.
The argument being made is not that the police are blameless. The argument is that responsibility appears to stop at the uniform. When things go wrong, officers are transferred or suspended to send a message. But when the violence is rooted in political rivalry, that message feels incomplete.
Within police ranks, there is also quiet concern about working conditions. Officers say they are expected to manage volatile political situations overnight, often with little room to push back against powerful interests. When things hold, they are invisible. When they collapse, they stand alone.
The Ballari episode has once again exposed this fault line.
For the government, the challenge is larger than one suspension or transfer. The real test is whether it is willing to publicly acknowledge political failures when law and order breaks down, instead of letting the system suggest that the police alone dropped the ball.
For now, what remains is a growing feeling across Karnataka that accountability is selective. And that whenever politics turns violent, the easiest answer is to change the officers, not the decisions that led to the violence in the first place.
