Chandigarh, December 16
Intense cold wave, currently sweeping north-west region, claimed two lives, one each in Punjab and Haryana, during the past 24 hours.
Sirajudin died while he was going to his home at Plangi village in Gurdaspur district in Punjab. He had reportedly stopped there for night halt. His body was found next morning, a report from Pathankot said.
An elderly man fell prey to cold wave at Sonepat in Haryana. The railway police found his body lying in a compartment of a passenger train coming from Delhi. It was sent for a post-mortem examination that established that he died due to cold and hunger, sources said.
The body is yet to be identified. The cold wave continued unabated in Punjab with Jalandhar recording a minimum temperature of 0.4°C, turning it to be the coldest place in the state.
People in Amritsar groaned under piercing cold wave as the minimum temperature stayed at 1°C, four degrees below normal, while Ludhiana recorded 1.9°C.
Severe cold wave conditions prevailed in most parts of Haryana. Ambala with 2.4°C, five degrees below normal, was the coldest place in the state, followed by Karnal that registered 4°C, five degrees below normal. Rohtak reported 4.5°C.
Himachal Pradesh was also under the impact of cold wave with Bhuntar in Kulu district recording minus 0.2°C, two degrees below normal, while Sundernagar in Mandi district registered 0.9°C.
However, Shimla was warmer. It recorded 5.7°C, two degrees above normal. There was no letup in cold wave conditions in Chandigarh and its adjoining areas that reeled under four degrees below normal temperature. The city recorded 4°C. A biting cold wave persisted in Jammu and Kashmir with Srinagar recording minus 3.6°C, two degrees below normal.
— UNI, PTI
