Bone-chilling cold coupled with thick fog has thrown normal life into disarray in many parts of the country with the temperature dropping to this season’s record low in the country as well as Dhaka city on Tuesday.
Low-income people, including day labourers and farmers, are the worst victims of the extreme weather which also disrupted road, waterways and air communications across the country. Country’s lowest temperature of 6.6 degrees Celsius this season was recorded in Chuadanga and while mercury plummeted to 11 degrees Celsius in Dhaka city, according to the Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD).
Last season, the lowest temperature in the country was 5.6 degrees Celsius in Sreemangal on 20 January 2023 while it was 11.5 degrees Celsius in Dhaka city on 7 January 2023. The lowest temperature in Dhaka city was 11.4 degrees on 11 January 2015, 10 degrees on 27 January 2016, 11.3 degrees on 17 January 2017, 9.5 degrees on 8 January 2018, 12 degrees on 5 January 2019, 11.3 degrees on 3 February 2020, 10 degrees on 1 February 2021 and 12.2 degrees Celsius on 8 February 2022, according to BMD.
Light rain is likely to occur at one or two places over Khulna division and weather may remain dry with partly cloudy sky elsewhere over the country, according to BMD.
A mild to moderate cold wave is sweeping over Dhaka, Rangpur, Rajshahi and Khulna divisions and the districts of Moulvibazar, Barishal, Bhola and Cumilla and it may continue as a mild cold wave and abate from some places.
Night and day temperatures may rise slightly over the country. Moderate to thick fog may occur over the country from midnight to morning and it may continue till noon at places. Air navigation, inland river transport and road communication may be disrupted due to thick fog. The current spell of cold wave may continue today and the temperature may rise slightly from tomorrow, said Kazi Jebunnesa, an assistant meteorologist at the BMD.
She, however, said a mild cold wave may sweep over the country again from 27 January. Low-income people doing menial jobs, especially day-labourers, have been hit hard by the ongoing cold wave accompanied by chilly wind and dense fog. The situation is grave particularly in the northern region where people are getting inadequate sunlight.
Dense fog also disrupted air traffic and the movement of vessels, including ferries, in many places. The cold spell has caused various diseases, including pneumonia, asthma and respiratory complications, across the country, especially in the northern and southern districts.
