Residents of the district, which usually experiences only summer throughout the year, are shivering due to an unusually chill winter this year.
The mercury has dipped quite considerably, touching around 15 degrees across the district in the last two days, with the villages in the hills experiencing a temperature of 12 degrees during nights. A cloud of thick fog engulfs the highway during the evening and morning hours, causing much discomfort to motorists who find some relief only after 10.00 am, when it clears. In spite of the bright sunshine, one can feel the cold wind piercing through the body.
“I can’t believe it is so cold here,” observed Nirupama Chaturvedi, a medical tourist from West Bengal. She wanted to embark on a tour to Ooty along with her family members but felt contended in Vellore, as she was enjoying the holidays in chill weather, under similar weather conditions.
While the sudden change in the climate is helping the vendors in selling more number of electrical and home appliances like water and room heaters, it is causing worries for the local farmers. They fear that the continued spell of cold weather would lead to attack of pests on crops. Enquiries with the chemical fertilizer dealers in and around the town here revealed that the sales of some of the pesticides and insecticides had increased by nearly ten per cent last week.
Most of the crops like vegetables and flowers have been badly affected both in Vellore and Tiruvannamalai districts. The cost of jasmine, which is very much in demand due to the marriage season, had risen four-fold in the last two months due to the dwindling production, resulting from foggy conditions.
The drop in temperature had also affected the elderly, infants and animals.
Eighty-five year old Natarajan of Sathuvachari noted, “The aged persons who were affected by chikungunya and dengue during summer are not able to cope with the cold conditions now.” He wondered what the chill weather had in store for them after the recent rains brought conjunctivitis.