India's death toll from the cold weather over the past three weeks stood at 215, while it jumped to 153 in neighbouring Bangladesh and 48 in Nepal, according to government officials and newspapers.

Amrish Srivastav, a state relief department official in Uttar Pradesh, told AFP the situation was "grim" in India's most populous state of 125 million people, where at least 146 people had died.

"If this cold persists, we expect more casualties," he said. "We're trying desperately to stop the deaths by providing timely help, but it's not easy in a state as large as Uttar Pradesh to reach out to all the poor and homeless."

The state was distributing blankets and shawls and "we are also asking street people to come and warm up by sitting around public bonfires," he said.

In the adjoining Indian state of Bihar, police said the chill had claimed 36 lives and hundreds more were in hospital with cold-related illnesses.

At least 13 people have died in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, and some 20 people have been killed in vehicle accidents on northern Indian highways due to thick fog accompanying the wintry weather.

At least 153 people have died from the cold this winter in Bangladesh, with 54 new deaths reported on Monday across the country, the New Age newspaper said. The Bangladesh government has not provided any official figures.

Deaths, though, are reported to be higher in the country this year compared with previous ones. Usually 100 deaths are reported each winter.

A cold spell sweeping across the Terai plains in southern Nepal claimed 15 more lives on Monday, bringing the death toll in the Himalayan kingdom to 48.

The winter takes a heavy toll each year in South Asia, where homes are more suited to handle scorching summers when temperatures can shoot up to 49 degrees Celsius (120 degrees Fahrenheit).

Last winter's cold spell killed almost 1,400 people in India and scores more elsewhere.

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