Fog and cold disrupt normal life in several parts of Bangladesh including the northern district of Naogaon, as the district's Atrai upazila continues to reel under low-temperature conditions.
The Bangladesh Meteorological Department recorded the lowest temperature of the season so far in Naogaon's Badalgachhi. The mercury dipped to 6.5°C in Badalgachhi on Jan 15.
Hospitals in the upazila have been crowded with patients, particularly children and the elderly, suffering from cold-related illnesses, such as diarrhoea and pneumonia.
Thick layer of fog and a chilling cold wave is disrupting everyday life in the region. The sun is hiding behind the clouds for most of the day. Dense fog in the area leads to low visibility, causing problems for commuters.
Meanwhile, thousands of cold-hit helpless poor people from eight unions of the upazila have become unemployed for not being able to work due to the severe drop temperatures, reports a correspondent from Naogaon.
Shops in and around different markets of the upazila remained mostly closed the past few days for the cold keeps the locals cosy in their homes.
Still, low-income people are leaving their homes to find work. These people suffer the most because they do not have adequate winter clothing to withstand the terrible weather.
Although the government distributed winter clothes and blankets in some parts of the upazila, it was insufficient compared to the demand.
Arafat Ali, a day labourer from Bhopara village in Atrai upazila, said: “We belong to the working class of people. If we don’t work, we don’t eat. Winter brings difficult times for us. However, in spite of the cold mornings, I have been working on wet paddy fields all winter. But, there were days, when I couldn’t go to work owing to the bone-chilling weather outside.”
Upazila Nirbahi Officer Sanaul Islam said only a limited amount of warm clothes had been allocated by disaster management and relief ministry for the cold hit poor people in the upazila.
So he urged the well-off individuals in the society and different socio-economic organizations of the country to stand beside the cold affected people with helping hand as part of their social responsibility.