A veil of fog all but obliterated the sun from the country’s skies on Tuesday. Poor visibility, continuing from Monday, played havoc with the transport system for the second day in succession, disrupting road traffic and ferry services for hours on the vast expanse of the Padma. Sources in the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) said ferry services were disrupted at Paturia, Daulatdia, Mawa and Kewrakandi.
The biting chill accompanying the fog has made life difficult for children and the elderly, all the more so for those living in the open in the capital and in the northern region without protection from the fierce cold ushered by a mild cold wave.
A rise in cold-related diseases like pneumonia and diarrhoea has been reported.
Doctors at the Dhaka Shishu Hospital, catering to children in the capital, reported a rise in the number of children arriving at the hospital with lung and stomach ailments. The sick children are mostly from the slums and those who live rough with their parents.
Meanwhile, the met office said that the day’s lowest minimum temperature of 9.2 degrees Celsius was reported from the mild cold wave-hit area of Ishurdi in Pabna. It was followed by 9.6 degrees C in Rajshahi and 10 degrees C in another mild cold wave-affected district of Tangail, north of Dhaka. The temperature fell by 1.6 degrees C to register 12 degrees C in the capital on Tuesday from 13.6 degrees C on Monday.
The met office forecasts the temperature may slide by 1 to 2 degrees C at night and the day temperature may remain almost unchanged during the next 24 hours, beginning at 6pm on Tuesday. The mild cold wave sweeping the regions of Rajshahi, Pabna, Tangail and Kushtia may continue.
The fog in mild to moderate form, too, will continue to menace the country, particularly over the river basins, wetlands and open spaces in the early hours.
Courtesy of The Independent
