Staff Reporter :
Biting cold and dense fog across the country on Thursday disrupted the normal life of the people particularly in the country’s northern and southern areas.
A military chopper carrying Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to CG Base Agrajatra in Patuakhali was compelled to wait in Dhaka for more than two hours due to foggy weather, officials of Prime Minister’s Office said. She was to open new Bangladesh Coast Guard Training Base.
Fearing cold bite and dense fog, the 20-party alliance also postponed its Jhenaidah meeting on December 23 where BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia was scheduled to address as chief guest, said Sairul Kabir, an official of BNP Chairperson’s press wing.
Met office in its yesterday’s forecast said weather is likely to remain dry with temporary partly cloudy sky over the country. Moderate to thick fog may occur over the country during mid night till morning. Besides, the night and day temperature may remain nearly unchanged.
The lowest temperature was recorded 10.4 degree Celsius in Rajshahi yesterday while the highest temperature was recorded 28.6 in Satkhira.
Officials said the foggy weather has already disrupted roads, rivers and air communications. The buses and coaches travelling at night took two to three hours more than usual to reach their destinations for thick fog.
Air communication was severely disrupted yesterday due to poor visibility in heavily dense fog at all airports causing untold sufferings to thousands of outgoing and incoming passengers.
At Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) at least eight flights, including an international flight, were delayed due to foggy weather. According to airport officials, many passengers got stranded at Shah Amanat International Airport also in Chittagong for hours due to same reason.
The river communication was severely disrupted as dense fog blanketed vast areas of the country reducing the visibility drastically. The ferry services on the Shemulia-Kewrakandi route remained suspended for 11 hours from Wednesday night due to fog in the Meghna river basin.
Hundreds of passenger carrying buses and goods laden trucks were stranded on the both sides of the river due to foggy weather.
Night coaches from the eastern side of Padma River reached different southern destinations late in the afternoon due to disrupted ferry service, said Aftab Hossain, president of Barisal Bus Owners Association.
Sirajul Haque, manager of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation [BIWTC] at Shimulia Ghat, said that river communications was suspended again at 8.00pm yesterday due to poor visibility caused by dense fog. It resumed at 9:00am on Thursday.
As a result, nine ferries — Bir Shrestha Ruhul Amin, Karobi, Raipura, Faridpur, Ranikhet, Taplu, Raniganj, Kolmilata and Kakoli – remained stranded in the middle of the river Padma.
Hundreds of vehicles and 2,000 passengers waited on both sides of the river from Wednesday night. The ferry services were restored about 11.00am yesterday [Thursday].
About 3-5 kilometre-long queues were created on the Dhaka-Khulna Highway. Besides, about 500 cars, buses and trucks from Dhaka were stranded at Paturia in Mankiganj and about 300 vehicles were lined up on the other side at Daulatdia in Rajbari.
Most of the long route launches on the Dhaka-Barisal, Dhaka-Patuakhali, and Dhaka-Barguna were stranded in mid river for two to three hours due to the fog, said Rafiqul Islam, deputy director of Sadarghat Launch Terminal.
BIWTA officials said that most water vessels plying on the river routes have no fog lights. “Several water vessels, including triple-decked launches MV Suravee-8, MV Parabat-9 and MV Parabat 2, reached Barisal from Dhaka after delays of 7 to 8 hours,” he said.
The fog, which started covering the region from Monday night, also forced water vessels to drop anchor at different points on the Meghna River, witnesses said.
Local sources from different northern districts said that the people couldn’t see the sunlight as the sky remained covered with cloud and they witnessed drizzling like situation almost throughout the day yesterday.
As heavy fog blocked the morning sun, farm workers could not start work before midday, affecting their daily income.
The life of people living in the slums and chars on the Ganges basin has become worst as they experience more fog and more chilly wind than that of the mainland.
