New Delhi: There was a slight respite from cold wave conditions in North India on Friday with bright sunshine in some parts though nine more deaths due to the extreme weather were reported taking the nationwide death toll to 123.
The capital recorded a minimum of six degree Celsius for the second consecutive day. Bright sunshine brought respite from the cold wave in Uttar Pradesh but nine more deaths due to cold and dense fog were reported in the past 24 hours in the state taking the toll to 83. Three people each died in Hardoi and Jaunpur, two in Azamgarh and one in Barabanki, reports said.
Sources in the Met office here said that temperatures in Gorakhpur, Varanasi, Kanpur, Faizabad, Allahabad and Lucknow divisions remained below normal.
The lowest temperature of 3.5 degrees was recorded in Najibabad. Kanpur recorded a minimum of 4.2 degree Celsius and maximum of 23.4, both higher than yesterday`s temperatures.
Rajasthan continued to be under the grip of a cold wave with Churu being the coldest at a temperature of 1.9 degree Celsius followed by Pilani at 2.3 degree Celsius. The Kashmir Valley also reeled under severe cold with the skiing resort of Gulmarg recording the coldest night of this season as mercury plummeted 12 degrees below freezing point. In the south Kashmir tourist resort of Pahalgam, the minimum temperature dropped further to settle at minus 8.2 degrees Celsius, the official said.
Kolkata recorded a maximum of 23 and minimum of 11 degree celsius both below normal.
A total of 24 people had succumbed to the extreme weather yesterday.
PTI