Live Correspondent: Biting cold gripped Sreemangal as the lowest temperature in the country this season was recorded at 5.6 degrees Celsius in the upazila in the 24 hours to Friday morning.

The lowest temperature in Sreemangal was recorded at 2.8 degrees Celsius on February 4 in 1968, Mujibur Rahman, an officer at the Srimangal weather monitoring station, said.

Temperature between 8 to 10 degrees Celsius is considered a mild cold wave, 6 to 8 degrees Celsius a moderate cold wave and less than 6 degrees Celsius a severe cold wave.

Severe cold with frosty winds and dense fog is disrupting daily life in Sreemangal. The low-income people who get by working every day are being hit hardest.

Many were seen making fires along the roadsides to keep warm. Most people are staying home unless there is an emergency.

Also, the number of diarrhoea and pneumonia patients – mostly children and elderly – is increasing in the hospitals of Moulvibazar, district Civil Surgeon Dr Chowdhury Jalal Uddin Murrshed said.

A mild to moderate cold wave is sweeping Rangpur division; Faridpur, Madaripur, Gopalganj, Rajshahi, Pabna, Naogaon, Sirajganj, Sreemangal, Rangamati, Cumilla, Feni, Brahmanbaria, Jashore, Chuadanga, Kushtia, Barishal, and Bhola districts and it may continue, the BMD said this morning.

Also, moderate to thick fog may envelop the river basins and light to moderate fog may occur elsewhere from midnight to morning. "The weather may remain dry with a temporary partly cloudy sky over the country. Night and day temperatures may remain nearly unchanged," the BMD said.

Dhaka, 20 January (campuslive24.com)// BSC