Eleven cold wave deaths were reported from Uttar Pradesh taking the toll to 50 even as the coldest period of the winter (Chilakalan), with minimum temperatures at minus 3.8 degrees, began in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday.
Mahoba and Hardoi districts in UP accounted for three and two deaths each respectively. One casualty was reported from Lucknow, Bulandshahr, Banda, Jalaun, Jhansi and Muzaffarnagar, police said.
The Kashmir valley, while reeling under sub-zero temperatures disrupting normal life, saw the beginning of the 40-day-long 'Chilakalan' with the minimum temperature at minus 3.8 degree, about three degree below normal.
A UNI correspondent, who visited Dal Lake on the first day of the Chilakalan, witnessed parts of the famed lake frozen.
Amritsar with 1.6 degrees celsius turned out to be the coldest place in Punjab even as the minimum temperature showed a rising trend at most places in the region for the second successive day on Wednesday.
Barring Amritsar and Ludhiana (5.6 degree C), most places in the region recorded a rise of 1.8 degrees to 3 degrees in minimum temperatures, an official spokesman, quoting Meteorological Centre data said, adding that the state capital of Chandigarh recorded 7.6