New Delhi: The entire North India on Monday shivered under a bone-chilling cold wave with temperatures settling below normal at many places.

Frequent power outages compounded woes of denizens who lit bonfires and took recourse to heavy woollens to beat the chill in the Northern region.

The desert State of Rajasthan reeled under intense cold with temperatures plummeting close to freezing point in Pilani and Sikar districts which recorded lows of 0.5 degrees each.

The minimum in Bikaner, Churu and Sriganganagar sank to three degrees Celsius each as the weather bureau promised no immediate respite from the harsh weather.

Cold wave continued to buffet Punjab and Haryana though minimum temperatures inched marginally at several places in the two States.

In Punjab, both Amritsar and Adampur, which groaned under sub-zero temperatures for the past ten days, registered lows of 2.4 degrees Celsius each, still three and four notches respectively below normal.

Last week, the minimum in Adampur nosedived to minus five degrees Celsius shattering a 35-year-old record.

Patiala Deputy Commissioner Dharamjit Singh Grewal has ordered to open all Government and private schools one hour late of their scheduled timings.

An official spokesman said that the Deputy Commissioner had taken this decision keeping in view of cold conditions in the region.

He said that the decision will be enforced from Tuesday and will be effective for one week. With this decision the Government and private schools will now be opened at 10.00 am instead of 9.00 am and will be off at 3.45 pm.

Cold wave held sway in Haryana where Karnal and Narnaul recorded lows of 2.6 degrees celsius each.

In Himachal Pradesh, night temperatures continued to hover below freezing point at many places as fresh snowing in high reaches in Kinnaur intensified the cold wave.

A report from Kinnaur said the high altitude border region witnessed fresh snowfall and added that due to it snow leopards were venturing into villages in the Sangla region.

The road to Pooh in the region, which was opened for light vehicles on Sunday, remained closed for heavy vehicles. Cold wave conditions are likely to continue for the next three-four days, the weather office predicted

According to a report from Allahabad, intense cold wave claimed the life of a woman pilgrim near the holy confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati here even as the district continued to shiver with the mercury dipping to 5 degrees Celsius on Monday.

The biting cold made things particularly tough for devotees camping at the on-going annual congregation of “Magh Mela” near the holy Sangam, where a 50-year-old woman “kalpavasi” (a pilgrim who undertakes a month-long penance along the banks of the Ganges) died due to severe cold last night, official sources said.

. Chill has also swept vast swathes of North-Eastern region with temperatures at many places, including Shillong and Kohima, plummeting below three degrees Celsius. PTI

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