Friday, December 16 2005 09:48 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: The toll in the unrelenting cold wave climbed to 24, with four more deaths in Uttar Pradesh and one in Punjab, as Kashmir felt its coldest day of the season and Rajasthan recorded sub-zero temperatures.

One death each occurred in Fatehpur, Maharajganj, Mau and Kanpur districts of UP taking the toll to 23 in the state while the extreme cold claimed its first victim in Pathankot town of Punjab, official reports said yesterday (Dec 15, 2005).

In the Kashmir Valley, the mercury plunged 5 degrees below the normal average to its lowest of the season at minus 6.3 Celsius, the meteorological office said.

Delhi woke up to a bleak and misty morning with a minimum of 3.6 C (4 below normal). It was the second coldest day after Monday's 3.1 C.

The weatherman has predicted snow in Himachal Pradesh and rain and sleet in Haryana and Punjab over the next two days.

Chilly winds blew across the region and temperatures dipped by 2 degrees to 6 below normal in most parts of Punjab and Haryana. Amritsar recorded a low of 0.4 (5 below normal), Chandigarh 2.6 (5), Karnal 2.5 (6), Ambala 2.4 (5), Ludhiana 1.5 (5) and Patiala 2.

Bhuntar in Himachal Pradesh settled at minus 1.6 (4) and Sunder Nagar minus 0.9 even though Shimla was comparatively warm at 7.3.

Pilani and Churu in Rajasthan also recorded sub-zero temperatures. Water pipes were frozen and burst at many places minus 0.1 and 0.3 at Pilani and Churu. Mount Abu recorded a minimum of 2 C (7 below normal).

Ground frost had damaged crops mostly in Sriganganagar district, reports said.

The winter chill was also making itself felt further east with towns and villages in Bihar and Jharkhand coming under its swath.

Jamshedpur and adjoining areas experienced the coldest day of the season with the minimum dropping to 8.1 C. The steel city's lowest in a decade was 4.4 on January 15, 2003.