Weather deteriorates causing miseries as temperature falls in N-region

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RANGPUR, Jan 20 (BSS): Normal life remained seriously affected as mercury dipped again during the past 24 hours until Wednesday morning and blowing cooler winds added sufferings to the common people almost everywhere in the northern region.
The minimum temperatures dipped by one to two degrees Celsius during the period and ranged in between 8.5 and 10.5 degrees today causing shivering cold and forcing hundreds of people to stay indoors.
A 'weaker' sunlight appeared penetrating the thick layers of fog and clouds at a few places this noon though most of the places and the vast char areas in the river basins remained covered with fogs and clouds until Wednesday noon.
However, appearance of the sun brought some relief at many areas though the bite of the sweeping cold wave still remains unbearable at most places, sources from different northern districts said.
The district and upazila administrations, NGOs, voluntary, socio-cultural and charitable organisations and affluent people are continuing distribution of warm clothes among the poor and the affluent people have started distributing more warm clothes.
Met Office sources said, both the minimum and maximum temperatures marked falls at most places in the region reducing the gap between them further that caused biting cold deteriorating the situation.
Reports from the remote areas said sufferings of hundreds of people living in the sandy char areas in Kurigram, Lalmonirhat, Gaibandha, Rangpur, Nilphamari, Bogra and Sirajganj districts on the Brahmaputra basin mounted Wednesday.
The number of patients with cough, fever, asthma and other cold-related diseases, however, remained mostly unchanged in recent days in these sub- Himalayan northern districts, concerned hospital sources said.
Met Office recorded minimum temperature of 10.5 degrees Celsius Wednesday against Tuesday's 11.2 degrees at Rangpur, 9.4 degrees against Tuesday's 9.8 at Ishwardi and the country's lowest of 8.5 degrees against Tuesday's 10.4 degrees Celsius at Rajshahi.