Intense cold, fog grip Lalmonirhat, Kurigram

The extreme weather conditions have particularly affected children, the elderly, day labourers, and those in underprivileged communities.

The day-to-day life of people in some upazilas of Kurigram and Lalmonirhat has been severely affected by the cold and dense fog.

The sun has not been visible in those areas since Sunday, locals said today (Dec 11).

Cold waves may intensify from December 20

From evening until the next morning, dense fog blankets the area and compels residents to remain indoors. The fog is so thick that vehicles are forced to use headlights even during the day, and water transport services have been completely halted.

Poor people of char areas of the Brahmaputra, Dudhkumar, Gangadhar, Teesta, and Dharla rivers have been worst hit by the cold.

Daily activities are disrupted, with day labourers unable to work due to the extreme cold, and lack of winter clothing has added to the misery.

Many are unable to buy winter clothes, and were seen sitting huddled together around straw fires to keep warm.

During the day, vehicles were moving with their headlights on. The severity of the cold has increased due to the absence of sunlight throughout the day.

Subal Chandra Sarkar, officer-in-charge of the Agricultural Meteorological Observatory at Rajarhat upazila in Kurigram, said a minimum temperature of 14.8 degrees Celsius was recorded at 9:00am today, with colder nights expected.

The sun has not been visible since Sunday as the fog persists, and cold waves may intensify from December 20, he added.

According to the respective District Relief and Rehabilitation Offices, there is an allocation of 19,270 blankets for cold-hit residents of five upazilas of Lalmonirhat and 45,000 for nine upazilas of Kurigram.

Abdul Hai Sarkar, Kurigram district relief and rehabilitation officer, said the blankets would be distributed through upazila administrations and union parishads, with plans for additional allocation if needed.