3 die of cold wave in Gujarat, snowfall in Shimla, Srinagar

New Delhi, Jan 26 (UNI) Three people died in the last 24 hours due to cold wave in Gujarat taking the nationwide toll this winter to 172 even as Shimla and Srinagar today experienced snowfall while Punjab continued to be in the grip of a severe cold wave with temperatures once again dropping to below zero degrees Celsius in Adampur near Jalandhar.

Three people died due to severe cold wave in Sabarkantha district of Gujarat. Mohanbhai Savabhai Prajapati (50), a farmer in Pepor village of Sabarkantha district, died due to unbearable cold.

Heerabhai Bharthari of Amirgadh from the same district also died of the cold wave, police said. A 70-year-old unidentified woman was found dead in the waiting room of Dhanera railway station, also in Sabarkantha district.

In Jammu and Kashmir, Srinagar and its adjoining areas experienced light snowfall resulting in considerable cold. After experiencing minus 1.8 degrees Celsius during the night, tree tops, roofs and electric polls were covered under a blanket of snow. However, the snow melted after the sun came out.

The weather in world famous skii resort Gulmarg and other upper reaches in north Kashmir remained almost dry. There was also no snowfall in south Kashmir. A report from Kargil said Drass, the second coldest place after Siberia remained cold with temperatures dipping to minus 20 degrees Celsius during the night.

In Himachal Pradesh, Shimla town and its other adjoining areas experienced first spell of snowfall this year, even as cold wave further tightened its grip over the state night temperatures at several places in the mid and lower hills were recorded below freezing point.

Met office sources said Shimla town recorded about four to six cm of snowfall, followed by 10 cm at Kufri, 15 cm each at Fagu and Mashobra and about 20 cm at Narkanda, up to 1730 hrs. Several places in the mid and lower hills of the state also experienced moderate to heavy snowfall since this morning, plummeting temperatures in the entire region. Patsieo, Udaipur and Dhundi have so far recorded over 30 cm of fresh snowfall, while Solang Nullah and Bhang Manali in Kullu district had received 25 to 30 cm of fresh snow, the sources said.

Intense cold wave conditions were prevailing in the state due to fresh snowfall with Shimla recording a minimum temperature of minus two degrees Celsius with the maximum at 4.6 degrees Celsius, they added.

Punjab continued to be in the grip of a severe cold wave with temperatures once again dropping to below zero degree Celsius in Adampur near Jalandhar.

The minimum temperature recorded at the Indian Air Force (IAF) base at Adampur plummeted to minus 0.2 degrees, from 1.0 degree Celsius yesterday. The minimum however rose marginally at Amritsar and was recorded at 0.0 degree Celsius. Chilly winds blew across the region as the sun remained draped in clouds at many places during the day in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh. The night temperatures hovered around two degrees to six degrees below normal in Punjab and Haryana.

The severe cold wave sweeping Delhi since early this week, which had seemed to abate yesterday, returned as the minimum temperature fell to 4.1 degrees Celsius, four degrees below normal while maximum temperature also fell to 17.8 degrees Celsius, four degrees below normal.

People of Uttar Pradesh got some respite from the nipping cold, as they witnessed a bright and sunny morning. However, the state has been observing cold nights with a dip in the temperatures. The night temperatures at Bareilly, Allahabad, Agra, Moradabad, Jhansi and Meerut divisions remained several degrees below normal in the last 24 hrs, Met sources said. Meerut recorded the coldest at 4.1 degrees Celsius, which was three notches below normal.

In Bihar, shivering cold continued despite sunny weather as the minimum temperature in Patna and its neighbourhood nosedived to 8.4 degrees Celsius.

West Bengal witnessed heavy rainfall in parts of Kolkata and in most parts of Malda, Nadia, Birbhum, West and East Midnapore.

With the minimum temperature in different parts of the state ranging between 13-15 degrees Celsius, the state remained under the shadow of heavy cloud, Met office sources said.

Alipore Met officials reported that the maximum temperature in Kolkata was recorded at 17.1 degrees Celsius, 11 degrees below normal, while the minimum was recorded at 15.8 degrees Celsius, two degrees above normal.

Manipur continued to receive slight drizzle. The local Met office recorded about four mm of rainfall during the past 24 hours.

UNI team AM RN2021