People warming themselves by fire in the cold. file photo
Jagran correspondent, Jehanabad. In Bihar's Jehanabad district, life has become completely disrupted due to no sunlight for four consecutive days and the minimum temperature reaching nine degrees Celsius. There is fog and dew in the sky from morning till evening.
Due to cold and cold wave, it has become difficult for common people to go out of their houses, while the streets and markets are also not seeing the same activity as before.
In the morning the fog is so dense that it becomes difficult to see beyond a few meters. Due to this, not only the common people are facing problems, but the drivers are also facing a lot of problems. The speed of vehicles has slowed down considerably, due to which traffic is being affected.
People are seen making arrangements at their own level to avoid the severe cold. In the city's squares, tea shops and markets, people are trying to keep themselves warm by burning wood, garbage or straw.
More crowd of people are visible at tea shops in the morning and evening than before. Due to cold, the demand for warm clothes, blankets and bonfire has also increased. At the government level, arrangements for bonfires have been made at some important places in the city, but this arrangement is proving inadequate.
There is no proper arrangement for bonfire especially in rural and block headquarters and small markets. Due to which people are facing more problems. In rural areas, farm laborers, small shopkeepers and pedestrians are most affected by the cold.
In this severe cold, the worst situation is of people living on footpaths and in night shelters. People living under the open sky neither have enough clothes to protect themselves from the cold nor the means to stay warm. In many places, people are forced to spend the night with the help of fire due to lack of blankets.
Blanket distribution has been done by social organizations at some places, but this effort is very less as compared to the need. According to the Meteorological Department, at present there are less chances of getting relief from the cold. The temperature may drop further in the coming days, due to which the cold is likely to increase further.
In such a situation, there is a need for both the administration and the society to make better arrangements for bonfire, blankets and night shelters for the needy people, so that no one has to suffer loss of life or property in this severe cold. Due to lack of continuous sunlight, it has become difficult to dry wet clothes.