A homeless woman adjusts a bed inside a shelter for homeless women and children managed by a non-governmental organisation (NGO) in New Delhi Dec 28, 2010. An intense spell of cold weather has forced hundreds of homeless to seek refugee in the shelters.  [Photo/Agencies]

LUCKNOW, India - Nearly two dozen more people have died due to cold weather in northern India in recent days despite government efforts to distribute firewood and blankets to the poor.

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Ram Mohan Srivastav, a government official in worst-hit northern Uttar Pradesh state, said Saturday that at least 22 people had died there over the past three days, pushing the death toll from two weeks of near-freezing temperatures to 63.

At least 10 people have died from the cold in the capital, New Delhi, while six have died in Jharkhand state.

The temperature dipped below 37 degrees Fahrenheit (3 degrees Celsius) in parts of Uttar Pradesh this week, with welfare department workers distributing blankets and medicines to the poor and homeless.