3 dead as snowfall continue in hill states of north India

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A student was among three persons dead as snowfall battered the hill states of north India on Sunday, while scattered rainfall is likely in the plains over the next few days due to western disturbances, officials said.

In Kashmir, fresh snowfall threw life out of gear and disrupted flight operations at the Srinagar airport, officials said.

A group of seven students of the Industrial Training Institute, Barkot, had got stranded during heavy snowfall in Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi district.

One of them, an 18-year-old boy, died while six others were rescued by the police and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), officials said.

In Shimla, a man died after skidding on a slippery road, while another person died while clearing snow in the Himachal Pradesh capital.

The body of 59-year-old Mahipal was found on stairs near Luv-Kush Chowk in the morning.

Sunil Kumar, 32, died and driver Ram Kumar was injured while removing snow as the earthmoving machine hired by the public works department (PWD) fell into a gorge on Saturday in Shimla's Nerwa police station area, the police said.

The weather department said heavy rain, snowfall may occur in several parts Himachal Pradesh on Monday and Thursday.

The minimum temperature in Delhi was 7.1 degrees Celsius, normal for this time of the year. The air quality index (AQI) was in the 'very poor' category at 327.

The IMD has forecast cloudy sky with light rain in Delhi on Monday.

The minimum temperatures rose and hovered close to or above normal at several places in Punjab and Haryana, giving a relief to the people from the ongoing cold conditions.

The minimum temperature in Chandigarh was 9.4 degrees Celsius, four notches above normal, a meteorological department official said
Jammu recorded a low of 9.3 degrees Celsius, up by 5.4 degrees from the previous night's 3.9 degrees Celsius, the official said