Chilling cold disrupts normal life in northern districts

PABNA, Dec 30: Various cold-related diseases are rising in Bera upazila of the district.

Extreme poor village people in the area cannot even sleep in the night in biting cold.

They get up early in the morning and burn straw for warmth.

Cold wave has paralysed the life of the common people. The low-income people including rickshaw-pullers are the worst sufferers.

Sources said number of patients who are suffering from cold-related diseases is increasing at the Bera Upazila Health Complex, said hospital officials.

Meanwhile, the officials are struggling to cope with the situation due to shortage of manpower and accommodation.

The meteorological office in Pabna said the lowest temperature was 17.5 degrees Celsius on Wednesday while it was 18.8 degrees Celsius on Tuesday afternoon. The temperature may fall this week, office added.

In a recent visit to the hospital the correspondent found most of the patients were suffering from diarrhoea, bronchitis, pneumonia and other cold-related diseases.

Hasan Banu, a resident of the upazila, said she admitted her three-month-old diarrhoea-affected son to get the quality medicare services from the hospital.

Pediatric specialist of the health complex Dr SM Samsul Islam said over 120 to 150 patients get admitted to the hospital everyday and most of them are children and old.

BSS adds: Chilling cold weather along with fog forced tens of thousands of people to stay indoors today as it gripped the northern districts in the last 24 hours.

Vehicular movement was disrupted in the district as the mercury level dropped further during the past 24 hours ending at 6 pm, reducing the gap between the maximum and minimum temperatures. The fall in temperature caused bone-chilling cold and exposing the poor, elderly people and minor children to extreme misery.

The country's lowest temperature of 5.2 degrees Celsius was recorded at Rajarhat monitoring point in Kurigram district at 6.00 am recently.

The severity of biting cold forced the common people to stay indoors affecting normal activities as the sun hid behind dense fog, mists and clouds amid windy weather almost throughout the day today.

Clouds, mists and thin layers of fogs apparently gave most parts of the extreme northwestern region a gloomy look since the evening.

Director of Rangpur Medical College Hospital Dr Ajay Kumar Roy said the number of cold- related patients has increased in the northern districts making the elderly people, children and babies as the worst sufferers.

However, Dr Roy said stock of medicines in the hospital as well as other heath facilities was adequate and steps were taken at the government- run health facilities in districts and upazilas to treat the cold-related patients.

Meanwhile, different voluntary, professional, socio-cultural and charitable organisations, business bodies and other institutions are extending their hands in distributing warm clothes among the cold-stricken people to mitigate their sufferings.

Deputy Director (Local Government) for Rangpur Ruhul Amin Mian told the news agency that distribution of warm clothes continues among the cold-hit distressed people in the district as elsewhere in the northern region.

Horticulture Specialist of the Department of Agriculture Extension Khondker Md Mesbahul Islam said the prevailing weather might affect normal growth of Rabi crop plants, including potato and Boro seedbeds, if the situation deteriorates further.

"Transplantation of Boro seedling has just began in the northern districts and the process is being hampered now as the farm-labourers are failing to conduct normal activities amid shivering cold," he added.

Meanwhile, in Rajshahi, the unusual cold weather is disrupting normal life in the city and its adjacent areas for the last couple of days.

The difference between maximum and minimum temperature was furthermore reduced here during the last few days.

The minimum temperature marked further fall at most places of the district, making lives of low-income group of people miserable.

Normal work including farm activities remained affected and fewer people were found outside their homes due to shivering cold.

Local Met office recorded the season's ever lowest temperature of 6 degrees Celsius this morning against yesterday's 6.7 degrees Celsius making the business of warm clothes more profitable.

Meanwhile, life of the people living in the slums and chars on the Ganges basin has become worst as they experience more cold biting than that of the mainland.

Md Muniruzzaman, president of Rajshahi Chamber of Commerce and Industries, said the unusual situation has been preventing people from going outside of residences particularly in the morning and the evening.

The suffering of daily wage earners such as day labourers, rickshaw pullers and farm labourers has intensified due to the cold.

The number of patients suffering from cough, fever, asthma and other acute respiratory tract infections sharply increased at different hospitals including the Rajshahi Medical College and Hospital (RMCH) for the last couple of days, said Dr Khalilur Rahman, professor of Department of Medicine in RMCH.

In addition to the sufferings of the people, particularly the poor, cultivation, especially potato, chilli and seedbed of Irri-Boro might be affected if the situation prolongs, said Shamsul Alam, deputy director of Department of Agriculture Extension.

Meanwhile, the district and upazila administrations, authorities, organizations, public and private bodies and many NGOs have intensified distribution of warm clothes among the distressed cold-hit people.

District Relief and Rehabilitation Officer Aminul Islam said 38,000 blankets were already allocated for distribution among cold-stricken people in nine upazilas and 10,000 for city areas.