Districts in south Bengal are shivering in mid-January, as Purulia at a minimum temperature of 6.5°C was as cold as Darjeeling on Sunday, and Bankura, Birbhum and West Burdwan were among places where the Celsius slid below 10 degrees.

The Met office has issued a cold wave alert for Purulia on January 15 and 16.

Purulia district administration has directed all block development officers to ensure no one sleeps in the open. The district administration also decided to evacuate those who spend the night in huts or under the open sky to safe shelters and provide them with warm clothes and blankets. People have also been requested not to roam on the streets late at night.

"We have already distributed more than 5,000 blankets to street vendors and poor people across the district this year. Many social welfare organisations were asked to join hands in the activity," said a district official.

Purulia, where the mercury is known to plunge to even 3°C in winter, is one of the popular tourist destinations in south Bengal.

Tourists visiting the south Bengal district enjoyed the chill similar to hill station Darjeeling as both districts recorded the same temperature on Sunday.

People from neighbouring areas as well as from Calcutta visit Purulia's Ayodhya Hills, Garpanchkot Hill, Joychandi Hill and Kashipur Raj Bari, especially during winter.

"It is a great experience for us to feel the chill of Darjeeling while sitting in Purulia. We are enjoying every minute of it," said a tourist from Calcutta at the Ayodhya Hills.

District administrative officials in Purulia said this cold weather would continue for a couple of days.

In neighbouring Bankura and West Burdwan districts, the temperature is some notches higher. But both districts saw dense fog till mid-morning, affecting train and bus services.

In Bankura, the minimum temperature is 8.9°C. In West Burdwan, it is between 9.5°C and 10°C.

In these two districts too, the streets were deserted after sunset on Sunday.

In many places, people on roadsides were seen trying to keep themselves warm by huddling around small bonfires.

However, no casualty because of the cold weather has been reported yet from south Bengal.