With the mercury dipping to single-digit temperatures, Noida and its neighbouring areas appear blanketed in a thick layer of fog. To Rohit Singh, a Noida kid in his early teens, the fog seems to have eaten up huge buildings and Metro stations. “It is completely white, as if the clouds have come down, and it’s extremely cold too.”
With his school declared shut, Rohit stepped out for an early-morning bicycle ride. He says, “My mother doesn’t know that I’ve stepped out in this cold. I sneaked out with my bike.”
Ramesh Jaiswal, another Noida resident from Sector 74, headed to his office in Delhi, fails to share the young teen’s excitement, and believes the white blanket to be smog. “I checked the Air Quality Index for Noida on the Sameer app, and it read ‘severe’. Even though it feels wintry and nice, I am sure it’s harmful,” opines Jaiswal apprehensively while rolling up his car windows.
Riyaz Uddin, a rickshaw-puller awaiting passengers near a Sector 62 society, maintains a stoical view of things, for he knows he must work, the cold notwithstanding. “I came here from Bihar to earn a living. I have to work so that my family is provided for.” However, winter mornings are difficult even for the stoical Riyaz. “I normally carry passengers to the market in the morning and then office-goers later. But during the winters, people wake up late and market trips coincide with trips for people going to the office.”
The sudden cold has also brought on a circular from the GB Nagar administration, ordering schools to remain shut January 4.
