Cold weather claims 15 lives

At least 15 persons succumbed under cold weather conditions in Uttar Pradesh as the winter chill gained in intensity in northern India on Saturday with dipping temperatures in Jammu and Kashmir and heavy snowfall in Uttarakhand.

In Delhi, the maximum and minimum temperatures were slightly higher than that recorded yesterday although the conditions continued to be bleak under largely overcast skies.

In UP, falling temperatures coupled with a spell of rainfall led to a worsening of the conditions, leading to five deaths in Jaunpur district and three in Hamirpur.

Two casualties each were reported in the Etah, Barabanki and Sitapur districts while one person died in the cold in Bhadoi, sources said.

The national capital recorded a minimum of 11.4 degrees Celsius on Saturday, which was four notches above the normal and higher than the 8 degrees at which it had settled yesterday.

The maximum, at 15.7 degrees, was up from 12.9 degrees yesterday but still remained five notches below normal.

Up north, Kashmir Valley witnessed a rare sunny day although the cold wave showed no signs of easing there with night temperatures dipping further below freezing point in some areas.

Srinagar recorded a low of -3.5 degrees, down by more than a notch from the previous night's minimum of -2.4 degrees.

Pahalgam hill resort saw the mercury settle at a low of -9 degrees as against the -8.8 degrees recorded there the night before.

In Uttarakhand, the cold wave intensified across the state with heavy snowfall hitting the higher reaches and incessant rainfall lashing the plains.

Mussoorie had received about 8 inches of snow till noon while Mukteshwar, Auli and Gursaun also got fresh deposits.

In the plains, places like Dehradun, Haridwar, Rishikesh and Rudrapur were hit by incessant showers.

Light to moderate rainfall also lashed various parts of Punjab and Haryana with bone-chilling conditions affecting normal life across the two neighbouring states.

The Union Territory of Chandigarh got rainfall of 45.7mm and recorded a low of 10.2 degrees.

In Haryana, Ambala and Karnal were hit by showers measuring 11mm and 29.4mm, respectively.

In Punjab, Patiala got 31.6mm rainfall while Amritsar and Ludhiana received showers of 2.4mm and 17.4mm, respectively.