North India continues to reel under cold wave; toll 195

The cold wave sweeping north India continued to disrupt normal life for the sixth consecutive day on Thursday and the death toll due to the extreme harsh weather is now reported to be over 195.

Approximately 31 more deaths were reported from the various districts in Uttar Pradesh with Agra recording a temperature of 5.4 degree Celsius, the coldest in the state.
 
Seven more deaths were reported from Bihar taking the death toll in the state to 21. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had on Tuesday ordered all schools to be closed for three days in view of the cold.

Earlier on Wednesday, approximately 157 deaths were reported from across the country.

Visibility was reduced to a few meters in Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi on Thursday morning.

In Punjab, all schools have been closed till January 8 due to the cold.

All incoming and outgoing flights from Chandigarh were cancelled on Wednesday.

Railways have cancelled nearly 19 trains till January 31 due to the prevailing foggy weather conditions in north India.