More chiller on way as mercury dips to 3yr low

As another cold wave grips most parts of the country, the lowest winter temperature in three years was recorded yesterday in Srimangal.
The Met Office recorded a low of five degrees, which was just one degree higher than the previous record set in 2007, also in Srimangal.
Assistant Meteorologist at the Met Office Md Shahidul Islam said the cold wave will continue for the next few days, and more below average temperatures are expected before the end of winter.
A severe cold wave is now sweeping over Srimangal and Chuadanga, while a milder cold wave has spread over Dhaka, Khulna, Rajshahi, Rangamati, Chandpur, Sandip and Barisal.
It was 10.2 degrees Celsius in Dhaka yesterday, and even lower temperatures were recorded in Chuadanga (5.8), Iswardi (6.3), Rajshahi (7.5), Jessore (7.8), Sayedpur (8.2), Tangail and Dinajpur (8.6), Barisal (8.8), Bogra (9), Chuadanga (9.2), Feni (9.9) and Bhola (9.9) degrees.
In Dinajpur, tens of thousands of homeless people are trying to stay warm during the nights by burning dry leaves and wooden sticks.
The district administration has distributed around 6,000 blankets and Tk 80,000 for each of the 13 upazilas this winter.
However thousands of homeless people in the district remain unprotected from the cold.
Md. Abdul Jalil, Deputy Commissioner of Dinajpur said that NGOs and individuals have also come forward to assist the vulnerable people.
Meherpur General Hospital told The Daily Star that four elderly persons died of cold-related illnesses in the last two days.
They are Minar Ali, 65, of Kashyab Para in Meherpur Town, Jahanara Khatun, 55, from Monakhali village, Mujibnagar upazila and Golam Ali, 72, of Kedarganj village, also in Mujibnagar upazila, and Abdul Kader, 70, of Gopalnagar village in Gangni upazila.
The government has allotted 1,000 blankets for Meherpur district – however there are an estimated six lakh people in need.
In Rajshahi also, thousands are suffering due to a lack of warm clothes.
Last week the district administration requested 10,000 blankets from the government to distribute amongst the homeless.
The Deputy Commissioner of Rajshahi Md Shefaul Karim said, “The district’s demand for warm clothes is much higher, but we asked for only 10,000 blankets considering the government’s ability.”
However, as of yesterday, the government had sent Tk 1 lakh for each upazila and had distributed a total of 2,300 blankets.
Dense fog disrupted traffic movement on Rajshahi roads last night and vehicles plied with their headlights on in the morning.

Courtesy of The Daily Star