The Press Trust of India news agency said the latest death, of a cyclist, happened when a motorist rammed into him in blinding fog at Sonepat in Haryana state.

The death took to 20 the number of people crushed to death on northern Indian highways where the fog has caused scores of accidents.

The cold wave in the past two weeks has claimed 95 lives in Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state, followed by adjoining Bihar province where 36 people, mostly homeless and elderly, have died, according to police and press reports.

Six more have died in central Madhya Pradesh, prompting the provincial government to take emergency measures to provide shelter to the homeless and medicine for people suffering from cold-related ailments.

The mercury in Uttar Pradesh hovered Wednesday between two and five degrees Celsius (35.6 and 41 degrees Fahrenheit).

The administration overnight shut state-run schools and colleges until January 5 while privately owned schools decided to reopen only on January 14 because of the deep chill.

Dense fog has caused traffic snarl-ups and delayed trains and flights.

Several domestic flights were diverted Wednesday away from New Delhi, where visibility was only 300 metres (984 feet), an airport official said.

The winter takes a heavy toll each year in South Asia, where homes are more suited to handle the equally deadly summers when temperatures shoot up to a sizzling 49 degrees Celcius (120 degrees Fahrenheit).

Last winter's cold spell killed almost 1,400 people.

TERRA.WIRE