The mercury today slid further in many parts of north India,claiming eight more lives in UP,even as Delhiites got some respite from the bone-chilling cold with the day temperature rising by over four degrees. Cold wave claimed two lives each in Uttar Pradeshs Hardoi,Kannauj and Siddharth Nagar districts,while one death was reported from Gonda and Fatehpur,taking the statewide toll to 89 this season. Etawah and Orai at 2 degrees Celsius each were the coldest places in the state. The state capital Lucknow recorded a low of 5 deg C,two notches below normal,while it was minimum 4 deg C in Varanasi and 4.7 deg C in Kanpur. Meanwhile,there was some respite from bone-chilling cold in Delhi as the day temperature rose by over four degrees,though an icy wind blowing at nine km per hour created trouble for citizens in the morning hours. The minimum temperature fell to 4.7 deg C,two points below normal,but as the day progressed,the maximum rose to 15.6 deg C,five notches below normal. Yesterday was the coldest day in the past five years with the maximum sliding to 11 deg C,ten degrees below normal,and minimum to 5 deg C. There was also no dense fog and airport functioned without any delays or problems,the regular feature for the past three days. However,fog in other parts of north India had its ripple effect in the national capital as Railways cancelled seven trains from here and rescheduled two of them,while more than 65 trains ran late. The high altitude of Himachal Pradesh shivered under sub-zero temperature as the mercury plummeted to a low of -15.4 deg C in Keylong and -5 deg C in Kalpa in Kinnaur district. The state capital Shimla recorded a low of 3.6 deg C,while it was -0.5 deg C in Bhuntar. Elsewhere,Sundernagar recorded a minimum temperature of 0.1 deg C,Solan 0.5 deg C,Mandi 1.4 deg C and Dharamsala 3.1 deg C.
