Birgunj, Dec 24, As cold spell triggered by continuing blanket of fog sweeps across the Terai plains, life in the border town of Birgunj is getting more difficult.
With no sun light visible for the past three weeks, elderly and children are most affected by cold wave. People are lately confined to their homes to avoid menace of killer cold except when they are compelled by urgent business to come out.
Parsa District Education Office has announced the closure of public schools for a week due to excessive cold. The market activities in the town have slowed down due to thinning presence of customers.
Government offices have also seen decreased activities. "Only a small number of service seekers are coming to the government offices," said Prakash Pokharel, administrative officer at Parsa District Administration Office.
The number of patients with respiratory problems visiting the Naryani Sub-Regional Hospital has swelled. Most of the visitors include elderly women and children, said Shyam Sunddar Das, senior physician of the hospital.
Two persons have died of cold in Parsa while dozens have lost lives so far across the Terai plains.
Regular flights to and from the Simara Airport have been affected due to foggy weather. "No flights have been operated in the last ten days due to bad visibility," said air traffic controller at Simara Civil Aviation Office Santosh Basnet.
According to Basnet, temperature of Simara has remained between 6 and 13 degrees Celsius this week. The temperature of Birgunj is a few degrees lower than that of Simara.
Local resident Sita Khanal said that the government administration has done nothing to help public to cope with the cold wave. Prime Minister
Dr Baburam Bhattarai who visited Birgunj on Friday had directed the local administration to mobilise resources to save people from the severity of cold.
A report from Kailali district in far west Nepal said that the number of patients visiting Seti Zonal Hospital has gone up due to rising effects of cold. Most of the hospital visitors are suffering from pneumonia, influenza, asthma and bronchitis.
Around 25 patients have been visiting the hospital daily, senior assistant health worker Radha Krishna Chaudhary said. Most of the patients are coming from the rural areas, he added. People have been advised to avoid cold and stay indoors. The hospital has treated 200 cold related patients this winter.
Meanwhile, four persons have died of cold in Rupandehi district till date. Out of them, only Sher Bahadur Pandey of Kathmandu has been identified, according to the natural disaster rescue committee of the district.
The district disaster relief body said that it is trying to step up relief efforts to enable people to cope with the cold as directed by the Home Ministry. Under the relief steps, warm clothes and fuel wood will be distributed, said chief district officer Hari Krishna Poudel who is coordinating the relief works.
Meanwhile, people in Gaur of Rautahat district in eastern Terai have celebrated the first shine of the sun after ten days. They hope that the sunny days will help to cope with the severe cold wave that has taken lives of dozens across the plains.
After hard life under the cold spell, jubilant people could be seen basking in the sun on Saturday. About a dozen people have died because of the cold in this district.
In Mahottari, people were happy to have a glimpse of the sun in two weeks.
However, an old man died after taking a bath before offering worship.
Ganga Lal Dev, an Indian national, succumbed to the cold while he was wearing clothes after bath.
Mahottari saw the largest number of deaths, 25, due to the cold in any district this season.
In Sarlahi, the death toll reached four, with two women dying Saturday.
Bhola Majhi, 55, of Pidari VDC and Balwali Moktan, 70, of Janaki Nagar died of cold, said the locals.
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