Wednesday, December 28 2005 09:15 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Cold wave pounding North India yesterday (Dec 27,2005) eased marginally with mercury inching upwards at many places even as seven more people fell prey to the winter chill pushing the death toll this season to 81.

Thousands of harried travellers heaved a sigh of relief as fog cover lifted after a week of chaos, confusion and frayed tempers at airports and railway stations.

Uttar Pradesh, which bore the brunt of the cold fury, accounted for 66 fatalities followed by Punjab (12) and Haryana (three).

Flight operations at the Indira Gandhi International Airport were not affected today as visibility increased manifold much to the delight of travellers who underwent a harrowing time last week when several flights were cancelled, delayed and rescheduled.

Amritsar, where mercury had been hovering around one degree celsius, recorded a low of four degrees celisus.

Temperatures also increased in other places in Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh which were reeling under an intense cold wave.

Ludhiana and Patiala recorded minimum temperatures of 6.9 degrees and 6.8 degrees respectively.

Mercury rose in Chandigarh which had a low of 7.4 degrees celsius while the minimum temperature settled at 9.8 degrees celsius, up by five degrees, in Hisar in Haryana.

Srinagar, which was in the grip of a bone-chilling cold wave with mercury hovering three to five degrees below freezing point, recorded a low of 1.5 degrees celsius.

Cold wave abated at many places in Himachal Pradesh including Shimla which registered a low of 7.6 degrees.

Sundernagar and Bhuntar, where the mercury settled at freezing point, recorded lows of 5.6 degrees and four degrees respectively.