Shimla : Almost everyone in Shimla today agreed on one point that last night was probably the coldest of the season except the confused Indian meteorological department office here.
Residents tossed and turned in bed and some even groaned in the severe cold . All morning and day the hottest topic of discussion in homes and offices has been the bone chilling frosty night .
Last evening’s snow was frozen hard in the morning .This was also unusually coated by a layer of frost so cold was the night . Unfortunately , a car skidded of an icy road and plunged down a hillside in Shimla killing five people .
Old timers say last night the mercury must have plunged to at least minus 5 degrees celsius , some say even lower .
But surprise ! surprise ! the weather office here run by the Indian metrological department says it was only minus 1.2 C .
Dismissing today’s mimimum temperature recording a resident said , “ There is definately something wrong with the machines of the met department , how else could they record minus 1 , which sounds almost warm , I don’t trust the weather office here anymore .â€
Another said the weather office here is not providing the true weather figures . Imgagine a tourist coming here who is not properly equiped with heavy woollens , imagine his plight when he actually gets here in the severe cold .
In a 20 year career published widely. He has worked for the BBC, AFP, The Statesman, IANS and the Business Standard . Known for his hard hitting writing and occasional off-beat stories. He lives in Shimla.
IMD Shimla is least bothered about what it is supposed to do.
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