Tea workers hit hard by cold spell

Bone-chilling cold and thick fog hit the poor tea workers hard in Sylhet division as hundreds, mostly children and elderly, have been suffering from different cold-related diseases due to the cold spell for the last few days.

At least four of them have reportedly died due to cold-related complications recently.

Tea workers have said they are not able to buy enough warm clothes due to low income.

The minimum temperature recorded in Sreemangal was 11 degrees Celsius in the last one week, said Anisur Rahman, officer-in-charge of Sreemangal met office.

Rajendra Madraji, 63, of Madraji Line, died on January 15, Jamuna Shukla Vaidya, 48, of Puran Line also died on the same day and ManddariBalmik Das, 59, died on January 16, said Rajkumar Kunjo, an assistant compounder of the tea garden dispensary.

Meanwhile, Sitaram Bin, a former UP member, said Aarti Riqiasion, 60, of Kanihati Tea Garden also died on January 15 due to cold wave.

Local village doctors said various diseases including cold, fever, cough, pneumonia and breathing complications are prevailing among the children and elderly in tea gardens due to extreme cold.

Visiting different tea gardens recently, it was found that many tea workers had been passing a hard time in the bone-chilling cold due to a lack of warm clothes.

Rajdeo Kairi, a tea worker in Alinagor Tea Garden, said they try to save themselves from the biting cold by making fires with straw.

Adarmoni Mridha, a worker of Shamshernagar Tea Garden, said she could not afford to buy warm clothes with her daily wage of Tk 120 with which she has to run a five-member family.

"The winter has just added to our misery," she said.

Shankar Rabidas, president of Deochhara Tea Garden Panchayat, said the garden authorities or the government have not distributed any winter clothes among the tea workers. Moreover, medical facilities at the tea gardens are also inadequate, he added.

Kamalganj Upazila Health and Family Planning Officer Dr Mahbubul Alam Bhuiyan said, "I have no information on whether anyone died due to cold."

Contacted, Arnab Malakar, relief and rehabilitation officer (additional duty) in Moulvibazar, said they received a total of 33,200 pieces of warm clothes and Tk 3 lakh cash from the ministry concerned.

There was no allocation for the tea gardens workers, he said.

Makhon Lal Karmaker, central president of Cha Sramik Union, said around 7 lakh workers and their families live in 156 tea gardens. Workers are suffering in the cold for lack of warm clothes.