Biting cold paralyses life in N dists
The biting cold during the last couple of days disrupted life in northern districts near the Himalayas.
The Met office at Rajarhat in Kurigram district recorded 10.8 degrees Celsius as the lowest temperature in eight districts of Rangpur division yesterday, reports our Dinajpur correspondent.
The lowest temperature in Rangpur was 13 degrees Celsius, Dinajpur 13.7, Syedpur of Nilphamari 13.5, Dimla of Nilphamari 13.2 and Tentulia of Panchagarh district 13.3 degrees Celsius yesterday.
Dense fog kept the sun invisible throughout the day.
“My earning has dropped as people are staying inside to save themselves from cold,” said Khalilur Rahman, a rickshaw-van puller at Banglabandha in Panchagarh.
“This is the first cold wave-like situation in Dinajpur,” said Tofazzal Hossain, in charge of Dinajpur Met office.
The district town saw light traffic due to the dense fog.
In Rangpur, a large number of people, mostly from poorer group, thronged makeshift shops beside roads to buy warm clothes for cheaper prices.
Drivers of buses on all the routes are using lights during the daytime as foggy weather prevailed everywhere in the region, said Fazle Rabby, general secretary of Dinajpur Transport Workers Union.
Our Lalmonirhat Correspondent reports: Life in the district is badly disturbed due to the biting cold accompanied by dense fog as the sun remained invisible for the last two days.
The poor people are badly suffering due to lack of warm clothes. The people living in the char (land emerging from riverbed) areas beside Teesta and Dharla rivers are more vulnerable.
Under the blanket of dense fog, vehicles move slowly with headlights on.
The low-income people, especially the farm labourers, are the worst sufferers as most of them cannot go out for work due to the adverse weather while many people, especially children and aged ones, are getting cold-related diseases like diarrhoea and pneumonia.
“I don’t have the ability to purchase warm clothes. As I can’t go out for work due to the fog and cold, I have to pass days half-starved,” said Nur Jahan Bewa, 52, at Dharla River basin Bongram village in Lalmonirhat Sadar upazila.
Nazmul Islam, 44, a day labourer at Sakoya village in Aditmari upazila said, “We can’t go out the home for work due to cold wave. We burn straws to get warmth as we don’t have sufficient warm clothes.”
Saidul Islam, 46, a rickshaw puller at Shaheed Shajahan Colony, a slum area in Lalmonirhat town, echoed the same.
Lalmonirhat Deputy Commissioner Abu Jafor said, “A total of 28,700 blankets are being distributed among the cold-hit poor people. We have sent demand letter to Relief and Rehabilitation Ministry, seeking more 50 thousand blankets for the poor people in the district.”
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