Cold wave death toll goes up to 90; UP worst hit

New Delhi, Jan 2 (UNI) With the cold wave death toll reaching 90 in the country, the mercury plunged to 1.9 degrees Celsius in the Capital and minus 2.6 degrees in Adampur in Punjab today.

Uttar Pradesh has reported 72 deaths, Gujarat eight, Bihar and Punjab four each and Himachal Pradesh two.

The Capital recorded the season's coldest morning with the minimum temperature plummeting to 1.9 degrees Celsius, five degrees below normal. The night temperatures hovered three degrees to eight degrees.

In Uttar Pradesh, from where most of the deaths were reported, temperature plunged 2-5 degrees below normal at several places with two more deaths from Agra and one from Jyotiba Phule Nagar.

Agra, Gorakhpur, Varanasi, Meerut, Faizabad, Kanpur, Lucknow and Bareilly divisions also witnessed dip in night temperatures in the last 24 hours.

In Punjab, the minimum temperature dipped to minus 2.6 degrees at Adampur, near Jalandhar, turning it as the coldest place in the plains, followed by Amritsar registering minus 1.0 degrees, five degrees below normal.

The minimum temperature also fell at Ludhiana but remained static at Patiala, respectively recording minus 0.1 degrees, six degrees below normal, and 1.0 degrees which was six degrees down.

Halwara airbase, near Ludhiana, was cold at minus 1.0 degrees while Pathankot recorded a low of 2.6 degrees and Bathinda 2.0 degrees, a report from Jalandhar said.

Piercing cold wave also lashed Haryana as the mercury hovered four degrees to eight degrees below normal at various places in the state.

Cold wave also swept mid and lower hills in Himachal Pradesh with people in tribal areas facing freezing cold wave. The Kullu valley and Una in lower hills continued to be under the impact of severe cold wave.

Una recorded minus 2.5 degrees while Kalpa in higher hills registered minus 3.8 degrees celsius. Icy-cold winds lashed Shimla and its adjoining areas.

There was no let up in the cold wave in the Kashmir valley with Srinagar recording minus 7.4 degrees while Jammu registered 4.0 degrees, three degrees below normal. Major parts of the Dal Lake and hundreds of other ponds besides tapes, water motors and drains were frozed.

Chilly weather continued in Manipur also with cold winds blowing throughout the state. The minimum temperature recorded was about 3.7 degrees Celsius while the maximum was about 24.2 degrees Celsius.

In Rajasthan, Churu was reeling under intense cold wave conditions with the minimum temperature plummeting to below freezing point.

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