The toll in the current spell of cold wave in north India on Wednesday climbed to 195 with 38 more deaths even as chilly conditions further eased with rise in maximum temperature in the region.
Intense cold in Uttar Pradesh left 31 more persons dead in different districts.
While seven persons each died in Fatehpur and Allahabad, five deaths were reported from Bahraich, three each from Barabanki, Balrampur and Sant Kabirnagar and one each from Rae Bareli, Jaunpur and Gonda, officials said.
Agra, which recorded 5.4 degree Celsius this morning, was coldest place in the state.
In Bihar, seven more cold related deaths occurred taking the toll in the state to 21.
Normal life was affected in most parts of Punjab and Haryana as fog reduced the visibility considerably. All incoming and outgoing flights from Chandigarh stood cancelled for the fourth day, while several trains in the region ran late between 2-8 hours due to fog.
Amritsar recorded a low of 3.4 degrees Celsius, 3 degrees below normal, while Ambala recorded a low of 3.3 deg Celsius.
People in the national capital woke up to a foggy morning with the minimum temperature plummeting to 5.6 deg Celsius due to icy winds which may lead to colder days ahead.
The sharp drop from Tuesday's minimum of 9.3 deg Celsius resulted in intense cold conditions in the morning, but the situation improved when the sun came out.
While air operations were normal at the Indira Gandhi International airport here, fog disrupted movement of trains with two of them being cancelled and over two dozen running late.
Image: A woman sits beside a main road in New Delhi on a cold Wednesday morning
Photograph: Enrico Fabian / Reuters
