Cold grips northwest, death figure in UP climbs to 11

New Delhi, Dec 11 (UNI) The death count due to cold in Uttar Pradesh mounted to 11 today following four overnight deaths even as people in north-west shivered under cold conditions after another spell of snowfall in Himachal Pradesh and rain in the plains.

According to reports, two people each died in the Taj city and Bareilly, while five people had succumbed due to cold in Mahoba. One person each was reported dead in Moradabad and Lucknow.

Chill has started gripping UP with the state receiving its maiden winter showers today. The chilly air was also attributed to the snowfall in the higher reaches of Uttarakhand.

According to reports, Moradabad, Lucknow, Bareilly, Hardoi and Shahjahanpur districts witnessed light showers.

Sultanpur was the coldest recording a minimum temperature of 7.8 degrees Celsius, which was one degree below normal.

The movement of several trains in the state was also affected due to fog.

Pilgrims trekking to Trikuta Hills of the Vaishno Devi shrine today experienced snowfall and rain which has brought the entire Jammu and Kashmir in the the grip of the winter chill.

According to sources, the temperature at Bhawan (Vaishno Devi shrine) dropped to a shivering point as Trikuta Hills received heavy snowfall.

Low-lying areas of Jammu region experienced normal to heavy showers while the upper reaches of Poonch, Rajouri, Doda and Udhampur districts received snowfall.

Piercing cold wave swept the entire Himachal Pradesh following moderate to heavy snowfall in higher reaches and widespread rains in the lower areas of the state overnight.

Shimla and its adjoining areas experienced snowfall for the second day today. Upper areas of Shimla district, including tourist places of Wildflower Hall, Kufri, Naldehra and Narkanda, also had snowfall.

The 13050-foot high Rohtang Pass, access to Lahaul Spiti district, and Dhauladhar mountain ranges experienced heavy snowfall, intensifying cold wave in Kullu and Kangra valleys.

Lower areas of Himachal Pradesh were lashed by rains for the second day today bringing a considerable fall in the temperatures and forcing people to remain indoors.

In Punjab, several areas, including Amritsar, Ludhiana and Patiala, were lashed by rain overnight. Chandigarh and its adjoining areas were also lashed by intermittent rain since last night. The ongoing severe cold wave had claimed the life of a person in Hoshiarpur district last night, police sources said here.

In Haryana, Ambala and Karnal were lashed by rain overnight.

Hailstorm or thundersquall with speed exceeding 45 km per hour is likely to occur at isolated places in the region during the period.

The chilly weather being experienced by Delhiites over the past week today abated further with the mercury shooting up to 12.1 degrees Celsius, three degrees above normal.

The Met office has forecast a partly cloudy sky in Delhi during the next 24 hours with the possibility of rain or thundershowers in some areas.

Three people, including a woman, were suspected to have died of cold in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra over the past 48 hours.

A cold wave has been sweeping Arunachal Pradesh, accompanied by snowfall at many places which brought down the mercury level drastically throughout the state.

The minimum temperature recorded at Tawang district during the past 24 hours was minus two degrees Celsius while Bomdila, the headquarters of West Kameng district, had been experiencing severe cold during the past couple of days, Met sources said here.

Snowfall was also reported at some places in Tawang while the Sella Pass had been witnessing heavy snowfall for the past week, the sources added. Rain or snow are likely to occur at a few places in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.

Rain or thundershowers are likely to occur at a few places in Haryana, Punjab, west Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and at isolated places in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim, west Uttar Pradesh, east Rajasthan, west Madhya Pradesh, coastal Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Lakshadweep.

Mainly dry weather will prevail over Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Gangetic West Bengal, Orissa, Jharkhand, Bihar, east Uttar Pradesh, east Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha, Chattisgarh, Gujarat, Konkan, Goa, Madhya Maharashtra, Marathwada, Telangana, Rayalseema and Karnataka.

UNI