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Cold claims 2 lives in Bathinda

CHANDIGARH, Jan 12 (UNI) —The battering cold wave sweeping the region took two lives in Bathinda in Punjab during the past 24 hours and its fury in Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir intensified further following fresh snowfall on the higher altitudes.

Dense fog all over the region, including Jammu, parts of Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and adjoining areas of Uttar Pradesh, played havoc sending rail, road and air services out of gear.

The people of the tribal belt in Himachal Pradesh and adjoining areas of Jammu and Kashmir groaned under sub-zero temperatures. The people in and around Srinagar continued to shiver under -3.8°C.

According to a Shimla report, the Government has started winter helicopter services to the tribal Lahaul-Spiti district and Pangi valley in Chamba district which had been cut off from the rest of the country.

While Shimla, the capital town of Himachal Pradesh, saw the low rising to 4.7°C, three degrees above normal this morning, people, in and around Bhuntar, Sundernagar and Mandi, reeled as the temperature further dipped to -0.9, 0.8 and 0.2 Celsius, respectively. Shimla and Kufri had snowflakes in the afternoon today for about 30 minutes.

People in the border district of Amritsar and the Union Territory of Chandigarh, after braving the coldest day yesterday when the mercury plummeted to 0.8°C and 1°C, respectively, had some respite.