The Hindu : New Delhi News : Biting cold continues; two die in UP

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Friday, Feb 01, 2008
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New Delhi

Biting cold continues; two die in UP

Primary schools in Punjab closed; UP toll now 67

Photo: Akhilesh Kumar

A SIGH OF RELIEF: Children playing in Chandigarh on Thursday as the sun sets after a sunny day which brought some relief from the ongoing chilly conditions.

New Delhi: The unrelenting cold wave claimed two more lives in Uttar Pradesh and pushed up the toll in the State to 67 while icy winds and numbing temperatures held grip over the entire sub-Himalayan belt on Thursday.

The mercury dipped further to minus 15.7 degrees Celsius in Pahalgam even as tourists made the best of the prolonged winter with Gulmarg ski resort of Jammu and Kashmir covered in a thick blanket of snow.

Frosty weather held sway over the Kashmir valley with Kupwara at minus 10.8, Qazigund minus 5.6 and Kokernag minus 5.4 Celsius while Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim and the north-east recorded near-zero temperatures and overcast conditions.

The overnight minimum in Gangtok was 1.1 C while Saharanpur in UP posted a record low of minus 1 Celsius. Two persons died of cold in Jaunpur district of Uttar Pradesh.

The weather bureau said the cold, “which is unusual for this time of year, is the result of sporadic rains caused by a western disturbance”. It forecast heavy rain in Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Manipur over the next two days and a further dip in temperatures across the north and the north-east.

Icy winds swept across Rajasthan and resulted in ground frost which has damaged Rabi crops and green vegetables, agricultural experts said. Churu was the coldest place in the desert state at 1.3 C.

The chill showed little signs of abating in Punjab and Haryana with Adampur (Jalandhar) at minus 0.6 C and Amritsar minus 0.5 C.

Patiala settled at a 1.3 C (7 degrees below normal) while Narnaul in Haryana was 0.5 C (down 5) and Ambala was 1.7 C (down 6).

The Punjab Government has declared holidays for children studying in classes I to V in all private and State-run schools from Friday on account of the cold spell.

All school teachers and students of class VI onwards will be required to report to school as per schedule, an official spokesman said .

Shimla, which has been experiencing the harshest winter in years, saw the mercury drop to minus 2.8 degrees Celsius (down 5), the met office said. PTI

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