Northern districts hit hard by cold wave
The mercury has taken a plunge in eight districts of Rangpur division with Rajarhat in Kurigram district recording the lowest temperature in the country at 10.8 degrees Celsius. Across the northern districts, temperatures ranged from 13 to 13.3 degrees. The biting cold is accompanied by dense fog which has forced labourers, rickshaw pullers and other poor people from work. It has disrupted transportation as visibility on roads has dropped markedly. The cold wave has been particularly harsh for people living in the Char areas beside Teesta and Dharla rivers and low-income people, particularly the young and the old are suffering from cold-related diseases like diarrhoea and pneumonia.
Although we are told that the local administration is distributing blankets amongst the poor people in Lalmonirhat district, actions need to be expedited by the concerned ministry so that the relief reaches the affected populace in all the affected districts, because the effect of the cold wave is always harshest for the poorer sections of society. It is not only a question of dispatching warm clothing and blankets to these districts. The loss of income due to the adverse weather conditions means that the poor are going hungry. Food should be part of the emergency relief package that needs to be sent urgently. This is the first of the cold waves that will hit the country and hence, efforts must be made to mobilise the collection of warm clothing and food from all sections of society and these be sent out to the northern districts quickly.
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