Dense fogs continued to disrupt road and water transportation yesterday. Water transports were particularly hampered, with several hours of delays in reaching destinations.
There may be drizzles across the country except for Chittagong region today, the Bangladesh Meteorological Department said in a regular forecast.
The Met Office also said the temperature tonight will rise slightly due to the drizzle.
“The temperature may fall by 2 to 3 degrees from Sunday, thus turning the ongoing mild to moderate cold wave into a severe cold wave across the country,” said Forecasting Officer Abul Kalam Mollik yesterday adding that it was normal as January was the coldest month in the country.
The ongoing moderate cold wave with chill wind and dense fog that is sweeping over the country is causing difficulties in everyday life, especially for low-income people in the northern districts.
The cold spell has triggered cold-related diseases including pneumonia, asthma and respiratory complications in northern districts like Kurigram, Gopalganj and Chuadanga.
Seven children were reported to have died of cold-related diseases over the last 10 days, Chuadanga Sadar Hospital authorities said.
On an average, 150-200 patients with cold-related diseases were receiving treatment at the outdoor section of the hospital every day, they said.
The ferry service at the Mawa-Keurakandi and Paturia-Dawlatdia landing stations has been suspended for 12 hours at night for the last two weeks due to heavy fog, causing a few kilometres of tailback on both the sides of the river leading.
Sirajul Islam, a manager of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation at Mawa, said water transports and ferry services remained suspended to avoid accidents, resuming at 9.30am every day after the fog disappears.
Communication problems have been prevailing on all routes including the Dhaka-Chandpur and Dhaka-Barisal water route due to dense fogs.
Ali Asgar Sarker, a launch owner, told the Dhaka Tribune that the plying of water vessels on almost all routes of the Southern region had stopped because of poor visibility.
Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation authorities said all vessels on these routes were asked to be careful while moving in mid-river.
On Wednesday, the country experienced a record temperature drop of 6 degrees Celsius in Ishawrdi, according to the Met Office.
The lowest temperature yesterday, at 7.6 degrees Celsius, was recorded in Dinajpur while the highest temperature was recorded in Teknaf at 27.6 degrees Celsius.
