THE country in line with the Met office forecast is experiencing a mild-cold spell with deep fog. The lowest temperature on Saturday was recorded at 10 degree Celsius in Ishwardi robustly emitting a strong signal of crawling bone-chilling cold to grasp the entire country. Hundreds of children and elderly people in the north-western, eastern and central regions of the country are suffering from various cold-related diseases caused by the spell. The Met office has forecast moderate to thick cold-waves over the country with a sharp fall in temperatures this month. The government should be prepared to beat the cold bite by providing warm clothes to the poor people and provisioning necessary medical care in the public hospitals.
The northern region is already hard-hit by bone-chilling cold, cold wave and thick fog. The weather has made the life miserable for the homeless people at night due to the shortage of warm clothes and a warm place to rest at night. The cold-related death makes several news every year that could have been avoided if precautions were taken. Moreover, widespread seasonal food insecurity and poverty in the greater Rangpur — Gaibandha, Lalmonirhat, Kurigram, Nilpharmari and Rangpur districts limit the purchasing capacity of the people to fight the freezing cold that covers the region every winter.
If the cold waves linger, then the day-to-day activities of the people of the region will be disturbed widening the suffering of the marginalized groups. And when people are being hospitalised with cold related diseases, hospitals are seen having a shortage of life saving medicine and equipment, like the Nebulizers. It is sad that the government does not take any preparedness to meet this predictable annual urgency. It is particularly inexplicable when such deaths and hardship of people in certain region of the country have become a yearly phenomenon.
Conventional wisdom suggests that before the advent of yearly cold-waves, the administration should have a preparedness program to tackle the chilling-cold affecting elderly people and children. The pattern of cold-waves makes it possible for weather experts not only to predict the onset but also the locations it might strike. This in turn makes the job of the administration easier to deal with the problems and in takings strategy to tackle the emerging situation effectively and timely.
The administration, the NGOs, conglomerates, banks and well-off individuals should come forward to mitigate the sufferings of the poor victims of natural phenomenon like cold-waves. This humanitarian assistance to the vulnerable, poor and ultra poor should be the first priority during the natural catastrophe to everyone regardless of political or ideological affiliation. Let no one die or suffer due to human negligence and carelessness.
