Bhubaneswar: Even as Odisha experienced a mild winter, dense fog engulfed various places in the state disrupting normal life due to poor visibility during the early morning hours on Thursday.
While vehicular traffic was far and few between, shops and business establishments opened later than usual. In several places, visibility was reduced between 20 meters and 200 meters.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a warning of dense fog across the state till Friday. An alert has been issued for Puri, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapada, Sundargarh, Jharsuguda, Koraput, Rayagada, Deogarh, Angul, Dhenkanal, Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Ganjam, Gajapati, Keonjhar, Balasore, Bhadrak, Mayurbhanj, and Khurda.
According to the weather office, there is unlikely to be any change in the minimum temperature for two days while the sky will remain cloudless. However, the minimum temperatures are likely to drop by 2°C to 3°C, resulting in some districts experiencing bitter cold. Overall, the weather will remain dry across the state.
Meanwhile, the Odisha Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) has written to the District Collectors of all districts and the police and transport Commissioners to take adequate measures to avoid untoward incidents due to the dense fog. They have been asked to increase patrolling in the accident-prone areas and alert drivers.
