The residents of Lalmonirhat’s shoals and the destitute living in the district are facing immense sufferings, as winter had come early this year in the country’s northern region.
Most of the people who cannot afford warm clothes are now waiting for relief to arrive either from the government or from the non-government organisations.
Locals said the district usually started experiencing the effects of winter around November’s end or at the beginning of December each year. However, the chills of winter this year started to be felt during the last week of October.
Rahat Ali, 48, a day-labourer at Kalmati Char village in Lalmonirhat sadar upazila, said with a daily earning of Tk130 to Tk150, it was not possible for him to buy any warm cloth.
“The char residents who live hand-to-mouth are facing untold sufferings because of the early arrival of winter this year. Sometimes I cannot go out at morning or at night because of severe cold,” he said.
Rozina Bewa, 65, a resident of Char Bowalmari village in Lalmonirhat sadar, said her family ran on the money she made through begging.
However, the early arrival of winter had made her livelihood miserable, as cold prevented her from going out in the morning for the past two weeks, Rozina said.
“I have no warm cloth, so I fail to fight the cold at morning and night. If I had a warm cloth, I could go out of the home early in the morning,” she said.
Azizar Rahman, 50, a farmer at Rudreshwar village of Kaliganj upazila, said many of the labourers who lacked any warm cloth – were unable to join work before 10am and returned home before 5pm because of the cold.
Rajpur union parishad Chairman Mofazzal Hossain said the sufferings of the shoal residents and the destitute, especially the elderly and the children, have increased because of the early arrival of winter in the district.
The UP chairman also said he had no help to offer to the many shoal residents who thronged his home and office looking for warm clothes.
Mahasinul Haque, the district relief and rehabilitation officer in Lalmonirhat, said his office generally received allocations by the middle or the end of December, but winter had come early in the region this year.
Saying he was preparing to send a letter to the concerned ministry, Mahasinul assured that warm clothes will be distributed to the people in need as soon as the allocation was made.
