<i> Cold spell, dense fog make life difficult</i>
A blanket of fog covers Chittagong city till noon yesterday while people have started experiencing a biting cold there. The photo was taken from CRB point.Photo: STAR
Cold spell coupled with thick fog in the last few days has paralysed life and disrupted road and river communication in several districts. Ferry service on Mawa-Kawrakandi route remained suspended for around seven hours yesterday leaving over 400 vehicles stranded at Mawa and Kawrakandi ferry terminals, reports our Munshiganj correspondent. Ferry movement came to a halt at 2:00am while six ferries were forced to anchor in the middle of the River Padma due to dense fog. Several hundred passengers on both sides of the ferry ghats suffered a lot for shortage of food and drinking water. Besides, at least 10 launches had to stop in the middle of the rivers Dhaleshwari, Meghna and Padma due to thick fog, BIWTA sources said. In the northern districts, the on-going cold spell may continue for at least seven more days. The poor people in the monga-hit Lalmonirhat district are suffering most for lack of jobs due to adverse weather condition, reports our correspondent. Day-labourer Roich Uddin,35, Kamal,40, Manowar,48, and others at north Saptana village in Lalmonirhat municipality said they are without job as they can not go out because of heavy fog and cold. An old man, identified as Santos Roy,45, son of late Rajendro Nath at Saptana village died from severe cold yesterday. Besides, over a hundred people, mostly children, are suffering from cold related diseases like diarrhoea and pneumonia, hospital sources said. Our Correspondent in Barisal reports: The people in southern region of the country are suffering a lot for disruption of road and river communication because of the thick fog and cold spell. Road and water transports get stranded for 6-8 hours at different points of their routes. The sun becomes visible after 10:30 am in the city. Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation and Launch Owners Association sources said ferry services remained suspended for at least 6-10 hours as water transports reached their final destinations 6-8 hours after their scheduled time yesterday.
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