Ministry provides blankets for cold-hit people in AP

A Christian ministry is working to provide thousands of blankets to relieve those suffering from the extreme cold wave hitting Andha Pradesh.

The unprecedented cold wave sweeping across the region has claimed at least 15 lives. The temperature in Adilabad district was the lowest in the last hundred years.

At least 13 districts are reeling under severe cold conditions as the mercury fell to below 10 degrees Celsius, according to sources.

India Partners, a ministry working alongside several faith-based grassroots agencies in India, is gathering support to distribute at least 6,000 blankets to homeless people throughout the cold weather season.

"Day to day deaths are increasing. Today we have attended one old mother's funeral who died in the cold," says Bishop Parishudha Babu, Director of India Partners' field agency Orphans Faith Home.

Three of India Partners' indigenous agencies are on the ground in Andhra Pradesh distributing aid and blankets to the cold-stricken poor.

"Your urgent prayers and financial support are needed for millions who are suffering from the most severe cold wave," Brent Hample, President of India Partners, wrote in a letter on Thursday.

"The locals are unprepared to protect themselves from the cold. Most of the victims have been elderly adults and children," he said.

Some 15 persons have lost their lives in the past one week following the cold wave conditions.

Karimnagar in Telangana recorded five deaths, Guntur and Visakhapatanam reported four deaths each and one death each was reported from Warangal and Nalgonda district.

The Daily Pioneer reported that this was the first time the state was witnessing a large number of deaths due to severe cold.

Meanwhile, the cold wave conditions in North India have intensified further, severely affecting air and rail traffic.

There has been heavy snowfall in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The Meteorological Department has predicted more snowfall in these states.

According to the Meteorological Department, minimum temperature in most parts of northern India is likely to remain 2 to 3 degrees Celsius below normal.