More cold misery for South Asia

At least 130 people have died in India, with 102 deaths being reported from the northern state of Uttar Pradesh alone.

In Pakistan, at least 47 people are reported to have died in the week-long cold weather, not including areas hit by the 8 October earthquake.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has reported 18 cold-related deaths in the last six weeks in the quake-hit zone.

In Nepal, 11 people have died in the past two days in the southern districts bordering India, and flights have been disrupted by thick fog, local newspaper reports say.

Schools and colleges closed

A severe cold wave in northern states of India has resulted in sub-zero temperatures in many states and severe disruption to rail and air traffic.

Although the federal government has not released any list of fatalities, most of the 130 people dead in India were homeless migrant workers, said state officials.

The national capital, Delhi, saw its coldest day in 70 years on Sunday when temperatures plummeted to 0.2degrees Celsius. Primary schools across Delhi have been closed until Wednesday.

The highest number of deaths have been reported from Uttar Pradesh state where 102 people have died, with seven dying in the last 24 hours, state officials say.

All schools and colleges in the districts of Mathura, Agra, Aligarh and Meerut have been closed by the government until 14 January.

In Punjab state 18 people have died while 12 deaths have been reported from the north-western Rajasthan state.

The big freeze

In Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian-administered Kashmir, the famous man-made lake, Dal Lake, is frozen for the first time in 20 years as temperatures fell below freezing and heavy snowfall severely disrupted electricity supplies.

India's meteorological department said that severe cold conditions are likely to continue for the next few days.

In Pakistan, meteorological experts say more rain and snow is expected in the mountainous areas in the next two days and the quake-affected areas may be hit by a heavy spell of rain and snow which may continue until the end of next week .

At least 47 people have died in the past week outside the quake affected areas, Associated Press news agency said.

Last week, the WHO said that 18 people had died due cold-related diseases in the quake-hit areas in the last six weeks, but Pakistan's meteorological department denies reports of any deaths.

Qamar-uz Zaman Chaudhury, the head of Pakistan's meteorological department, said up to five feet (more than a metre) of snow has fallen on mountainous areas over 5,000 feet (1,524 metres) in the past week.

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