Md. Kamruzzaman Khan Picklu, Chitalmari, Bagerhat:
Severe cold during the last couple of days has created immense suffering to the low-income people of rural areas as most of them facing problems in finding bread-earning daily basis jobs.
Like most of the areas of the country, life in Chitalmari upazila in Bagerhat district, has been disrupted due to severe cold and dense fog during the last one week. In some cases, bone-chilling cold left low-income people captivated into the corner in their little huts without work.
Meanwhile, the number of patients has been increasing in hospitals due to cold. Besides distributing winter clothes among poor people, the Upazila Administration has urged rich people of the society to stand by the helpless in this crisis.
According to the relevant sources, mild cold has been prevailing over this upazila for almost a week like elsewhere of the country. The temperature in the area is dropping for the last two days.
The low-income ordinary working class people are the worst sufferers of the cold and their sufferings know no bound. At night and in the morning people are trying to prevent the cold by lighting fires. Since it has been difficult for the working class people to go to work due to shivering cold, scarcity of food has become a big problem for them.
Many working class people have not been able to go to work for the last 3-4 days since hands and feet become numb in the cold. Owing to severe cold, they are in dire straits.
At the same time, children and the elderly are being affected by cold-related diseases. The number of cold hit patients in the Upazila Health Complex is also increasing everyday.
Chitalmari Upazila Health and Family Planning Officer Md. Mamun Hasan, said more patients are being admitted to the hospital with various diseases including cold, cough, flu and shortness of breath. All of them are being given medical services.
Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Md. Maruful Alam said, “I am regularly searching cold hit people around with the onset of winter. So far we have distributed winter clothes among three thousand people. In addition, another 1,500 winter clothes and dry food have been allocated. They will be distributed among the helpless cold victims.”
“I urge rich people of the society to stand by the helpless people during this dire crisis,” UNO added.
