KHULNA: Biting cold accompanied by dense fog disrupts normal life, including vehicular movement, in the south-western part of the country, including Khulna and neighbouring districts.
Worst, it began drizzling on Saturday morning, adding woes to the sufferings of the local people. The day’s works began late while the business establishments were closed earlier than normal time due to cold wave blowing over the area.
Md Amirul Azad, Deputy Director of Khulna Met Office said over the phone they recorded the lowest temperature of 15.5 degrees Celsius on Saturday against the highest 24.0 degrees.
The vehicular movement on the roads and highways was partially affected till 9:00 am on Saturday as thick fog covered the air reducing visibility to less than 10 to 15 meters. Plying of vehicles on all routes without headlights was almost impossible till late morning.
Longer-distance travelers’ vehicles fell behind their schedules. General Secretary of Khulna Bus-minibus Transport Workers Union Zakir Hossain Biplob said their workers were spending two to three extra hours on the route to reach the destinations, as dense fog obstructs smooth drive.
Water transports carrying thousands of passengers and goods on different regional and inter-district routes of the southern region also got stranded at different points and reached the destinations after hours of delay.
On the other hand, failure to avail transports and shortage of food, drinking water and sanitation problems caused tremendous sufferings to the passengers of the stranded vehicles, especially females and children, at different points.
Civil Surgeon of Khulna Dr Niyaz Mohammad said, “The cold weather is responsible for such diseases but we have remained alert and are monitoring the situation regularly.”
“We have also urged the people to take preventive steps for their children, as most patients are below 15 years,” he added and advised the elderly to protect themselves with adequate warm clothes, eat a nutritious diet and avoid moving out in the open until the weather goes.
He also admitted that the hospital authorities are facing a serious setback to treat patients due to lack of adequate infrastructures. According to the concerned sources, the unusual situation has been preventing people from going outside of residences in the morning along with creating negative impact on normal life.
Only a few people were seen outside their houses while day-labourers and farm workers were passing a hard time due to biting cold coupled with dense fog and chilly wind almost throughout the day on Saturday. A large number of people are thronging the markets to purchase warm clothes to protect themselves from the shivering cold.
