Cold wave holds sway in North India

There was no let up in the cold wave sweeping North India as temperatures hovered below normal levels in several parts of the region on Sunday.

The Kashmir Valley remained in the grip of severe cold wave with minimum temperatures settling several degrees below the freezing point.

The low in Srinagar, the summer capital, was recorded at minus 4.6 deg C, a MeT official said.

Tourist resort Pahalgam was the coldest zone in the Valley where the minimum fell to minus 13.2 degress Celsius.

In the Gulmarg skiing resort, the minimum was recorded at minus 11.2 deg C.

Leh town in remote Ladakh region shivered at minus 18.6 deg C, a drop of 1.4 degrees from yesterday. Adjoining Kargil town recorded a low of minus 20.2 deg C.

Punjab and Haryana also reeled under the cold wave with minimum temperatures hovering two to four degrees below normal.

Narnaul in Haryana was the coldest place in the two states recording a low of 2.2 degrees Celsius, down by four notches.

The minimum in holy city Amritsar in Punjab touched 2.3 degrees, down by three notches, the MeT department said.

The Union Territory of Chandigarh endured a cold night recording a minimum temperature of 5.2 degrees Celsius.