NEW DELHI, Jan 19: The intense cold spell that has enveloped South Asia for more than three weeks has killed at least 62 more people, officials said on Sunday as the toll in the region’s worst winter in decades rose above 1,300.

While bright sunshine greeted Bangladesh on Sunday and brought some respite from the cold — which has claimed 533 lives there so far — the India Meteorological Department said northern India would not be as fortunate for a few more days.

The IMD said minimum temperatures were between four and seven degrees Celsius (seven and 13 degrees Fahrenheit) below normal across the region and the cold was exacerbated by chilly winds.

Forty-seven new deaths were reported from the populous northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, the worst hit region this season, with a total death toll of nearly 600.

The eastern Indian state of Bihar accounted for eight new deaths while central state Madhya Pradesh accounted for seven.

Although temperatures in South Asia do not fall as low in North America and Europe, people have been hit harder because millions in the region live on pavements or in shacks.

Most of the dead have been pavement dwellers and beggars who are exposed when the mercury has fallen to below freezing levels in northern India, a rare occurrence in the Gangetic plains.

Indian authorities have arranged for public bonfires by the side of pavements and shifted some of the homeless to temporary shelters, but many among the poor said the effort was not enough.

“We collect waste wood, old tyres and anything else that can burn for some time for our bonfire to keep us warm at least for a while”, said Chotey Lal, a homeless construction worker in Uttar Pradesh’s capital Lucknow who earns about $1 a day.

In Patna, Bihar’s capital, district administrator Vinay Kumar said authorities would decide on Monday whether educational institutions in the district should remain closed due to the intense cold or hold shorter classes.

Police in Madhya Pradesh said a villager and his three daughters burned to death on Friday night when their bed linen caught fire from a bonfire lit to keep them warm through the night.

There were no new deaths in the Himalayan kingdom of Nepal, where 55 people have died so far.

The cold spell has also hit Pakistan but no deaths have been reported.—Reuters