NAOGAON, Jan 26 (bdnews24.com): A mild cold wave accompanied by chilly winds sweeping across Naogaon has made the lives of labourers, farmers and rickshaw-van pullers distressful.
The lowest temperature in Bangladesh was recorded at 8.6 degrees Celsius in Naogaon at 9am Sunday, said Badalgachhi Weather Observatory spokesperson Mizanur Rahman.
On Saturday the mercury hovered around 10.7 degrees Celsius in the district.
The bitter cold is disrupting the cultivation of Robi crops along with Boro paddy. The cold also brought about a crisis of farmers needed for irrigation and sowing.
With muted sunshine daylong, the farmers have been unwilling to work in the fields due to the cold. They are taking Tk 150 more in wages to work.
On the other hand, labourers and daily wage earners have been struggling to get work and their income almost halved in the winter.
Rickshaw-puller Ekramul said, "It's very difficult to get out in the morning due to the cold. The number of passengers has dropped and cut our income by half. The labourers are also going through this."
The shivering cold has also given rise to diarrhoea, dysentery, asthma and other cold-related diseases.
Ansar Ali, a doctor at Naogaon Sadar General Hospital, said, "On average, around 50-60 people are getting admitted to the hospital everyday with different cold-related illnesses."
Senior weather observer Mizanur said the biting cold was being felt due to the reduced gap between day and night temperatures.
The temperature might drop further in the next two days due to the cold wave, he said.
Naogaon Deputy Commissioner Abdul Awal said almost 75,000 winter clothes were distributed and the initiative was still underway.
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