Shivering cold wave severely affects normal life in N-region

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RANGPUR, Dec 25 (BSS): The sweeping shivering cold wave severely affects normal life in the sub-Himalayan northern region for the second consecutive day Friday due to further falls in the temperatures during the past 24 hours until this afternoon.
Side by side with falls in the minimum and maximum temperatures, blowing cooler winds from the north Himalayan regions severely deteriorated the weather condition and forced the people to stay indoors, local and official sources said.
The day labourers and farm workers could hardly work in their respective fields to earn their livelihoods amid biting cold though the layers of fogs that covered the air since Thursday night.
Vehicular traffics were affected till Friday 9.00 am due to foggy air when a fewer number of vehicles plied on roads and highways with their headlights on to avoid accidents in the region.
The number of pneumonia, fever, diarrhoea, asthma and respiratory problem patients marked rise and the elderly men and women and babies were the worst sufferers.
The district and upazila administrations, authorities, agencies, organisations, public and private bodies had intensified distribution of warm clothes among the distressed cold-hit people everywhere in the region.
Reports reaching from the remote char areas say that biting cold coupled with stronger winds made life miserable for the 2.0 million people living in over 250 char villages in river basins of Rangpur, Kurigram, Nilphamari, Gaibandha, Lalmonirhat, Jamalpur, Bogra and Sirajganj districts.
Biting cold was being experienced from Thursday evening due to the minimum gaps between the maximum and minimum temperatures and the minimum temperatures are ranging between 7.4 and 10.4 degrees Celsius Friday, the sources said.
The maximum temperatures ranged between 23.1 and 23. 5 degrees in the region and the country's lowest temperature of 7.2 degrees Celsius was recorded Friday at Srimangal against the same of 7.4 degrees Celsius recorded at Chuadanga Thursday.
The Met Office recorded the minimum temperatures of 8.8 degrees Celsius Friday against Thursday's 9.8 degrees at Rangpur, 10.4 degrees against Thursday's 10.3 degrees at Dinajpur and 9 degrees against Thursday's 10 degrees Celsius at Syedpur.
Besides, the minimum temperature was 7.4 degrees Friday morning against Thursday's 8.5 degrees at Ishwardi, 8.9 degrees against 9.8 degrees at Bogra and 7.4 degrees Friday against Thursday's 7.8 degrees Celsius at Rajshahi.
The district administrations had sent urgent letters to the higher authorities for allocation of more warm clothes and Rangpur administration had asked for 30,000 pieces of more clothes for distribution among the cold-hit people of Rangpur.
Meanwhile, distribution of the 64,000 blankets, with 4,000 for each of the 16 northern districts, allocated by the Relief and Rehabilitation Department of the Ministry of Food and Disaster Management is nearing completion.
District relief and rehabilitation officer of Rangpur Mokhlesur Rahman told the news agency that distribution of 1,150 more pieces of warm clothes allocated from the Prime Minister's Relief Fund was also nearing completion and more warm clothes were being awaited now.