C T Online Desk: Twenty-nine people have died of winter-related diseases and causes in the northern division of Rangpur in the 72 hours until Friday morning, according to the divisional health office and Rangpur Medical College Hospital.
Nine of the deaths were caused by fires started by hay fires in the impoverished northern region, where people frequently lack adequate warm clothing to protect themselves from the cold.
The deaths from burning occurred at the burn unit of the Rangpur Medical College Hospital reported New Age correspondent in Lalmonirhat.
The Rangpur divisional health office confirmed the rest of the deaths – seven from diarrhoea and 13 from pneumonia.
The deceased were from Rangpur, Lalmonirhat, Thakurgaon, Kurigram, Gaibandha, Nilphamari, and Dinajpur.
The Directorate General of Health Services centrally announced the death of 38 people between
November 14 and December 18 in six districts except northern districts, the gateway of winter into Bangladesh.
A mild cold wave was reported in a pocket in Badalgachhi, an upazila of Naogaon, though the Met Office said that the minimum temperature in the northern region might increase today.
On Friday, the country’s lowest minimum temperature, representing night-time temperatures recorded at midnight, of 8.4 C was recorded at Badalgachhi.
It was the lowest temperature recorded this year after almost a third of the winter season on the meteorological calendar had passed.
The sky over the northern Rangpur division remained covered in dense fog throughout the day.
‘The temperature might drop briefly on December 29 or 30,’ said meteorologist Mohammad Shahinul Islam.
The temperature fall may follow slight rain in parts of Bangladesh, particularly in Sylhet and Chattogram on December 27 and 28, said the Met Office.
This winter saw only one day of a mild cold wave before the one reported in a pocket of Naogaon.
Cold is especially dangerous for children and the elderly in northern and northwestern Bangladesh, where many of the country’s poor live, often exposed to cold wind in rickety homes.
Char dwellers barely floating in rivers engulfed in a dense fog most of the day and swept by a chilly wind suffered the most.
Diarrhoea becomes more prevalent among children during the winter when the rotavirus gets into wide circulation and the concentration of pollutants in the water increases.
Health experts advise that children and the elderly must wear warm clothes, especially outside, and remain cautious against catching pneumonia.
The government should without any delay vaccinate children and the elderly free of cost against rotavirus and flu, they said.
Daily wage earners and farmers suffered a lot in the northern districts, often under-clothed, for they must go out in chilling weather.
Usually, during winter, more than one cold wave visits December, with temperatures frequently falling below 10 degrees Celsius in northern Bangladesh.
The Met Office predicted frequent cold waves in January and advised all concerned to prepare for severe cold in pockets.
A mild cold wave occurs when the minimum temperature falls below 10 degrees Celsius. A moderate cold wave is when the minimum temperature stays between 8 degrees Celsius and 6 degrees Celsius.
A severe cold wave occurs when the minimum temperature drops below 6 degrees Celsius.
