The biting cold weather has claimed 12 lives in the northern region of the country in the last four days.
Bangladesh experienced its lowest recorded temperature in 50 years on Monday as the mercury dropped to 2.6°C in Tetulia upazila in Panchagarh.
The previous all-time low was 2.8°C, recorded in 1968 in Srimangal upazila of Moulvibazar district.
The Met office says the big chill is likely to prevail across the country and could even deepen on Tuesday, when new record lows may be felt in the central and southern parts.
People in Dhaka experienced 9.5°C temperature on Monday – the lowest temperature recorded in Dhaka this season. The photo was taken at a Dhaka street on Monday, January 8, 2018 Syed Zakir Hossain/Dhaka Tribune
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It is the northern areas which have so far borne the brunt of the brutal cold, with at least 12 people, including six children, dying of cold-related ailments in Rajshahi, Kurigram and Thakurgaon districts over the past four days.
Many children and elderly people have been suffering badly during the inclement weather, crowding hospitals and clinics, while the economically poor day labourers and rickshaw-pullers have been left shivering in the extreme cold.
Children and old people have severely been affected by the ongoing cold spell. The photo was taken at a hospital in Chuadanga on Monday, January 8, 2018 Dhaka Tribune
Those living in slums have also become the worst suffers for lack of adequate warm clothes.
“People in Dhaka experienced 9.5°C today [Monday] – the lowest temperature recorded this season,” Omar Farroque, meteorologist at the Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD), told UNB.
“The temperature may dip further in Dhaka tomorrow [Tuesday].”
Communication has been disrupted across the country due to thick fog. The picture was taken near a highway in Chuadanga on Monday, January 8, 2018 Dhaka Tribune
The lowest temperature that Dhaka has ever experienced was recorded at 5.6°C in 1964.
Omar said the highest temperature in the country yesterday was recorded at 25.6°C in Teknaf upazila, Cox’s Bazar.
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In other parts of the country, the cold wave has been sweeping over Bogra, Chuadanga, Dinajpur, Nilphamari, Panchagarh, Rangpur, Barisal and Sreemangal, according to reports sent by the correspondents of the Dhaka Tribune.
Elderly people are particularly vulnerable to the biting cold in Panchagarh, where the lowest temperature in Bangladesh in 50 years was recorded at 2.6°C in Tetulia upazila on Monday, January 8, 2018 Dhaka Tribune
Bangladesh Met office recorded 2.9°C in Saidpur upazila and 3°C in Dimla upazila of Nilphamari district, 3.1°C in Rajarhat upazila of Kurigram, 3.2°C in Dinajpur, 4°C in Badalgachhi upazila of Naogaon district, 4.9°C in Rangpur, 5.3°C in Rajshahi, 5.4°C in Chuadanga, 5.5°C in Ishwardi upazila of Pabna, and 5.6°C in Jessore.
Mothers and children in a Nilphamarai village are seen enjoying a little warmth from a bonfire on Monday, January 8, 2018 Dhaka Tribune
The northern districts to receive ruling party aid were Panchagarh, Thakurgaon and Nilphamari, according to a press release.
A group of men attempt to warm themselves with the help of a bonfire on Monday, January 8, 2018 Dhaka Tribune
Other delegation members were Awami League Joint General Secretary Jahangir Kabir Nanak, Organizing Secretary BM Mozammel Haque, and Relief and Social Welfare Affairs Secretary Sujit Roy Nandi.
Source: Dhaka Tribune.
