Heat wave in Rajshahi: Cool drinks distributed among people on the street

Public life has been disrupted by the protracted heat wave in Rajshahi as people are sweating profusely with high humidity in the air and scorching heat.

Rickshaw-pullers and other workers are wearing caps, gamchhas (cotton scarfs) to ward off the direct sun, and drinking plenty of water.

Voluntary organisations are offering some relief from the heat by distributing juice (sharbat), water and oral saline solutions among the people on the streets.

At around 1:00pm Sunday afternoon, an organisation called The Smiling Foundation distributed juice among over 200 people on the streets at Shaheb Bazar Zero Point and Lakshmipur in Rajshahi city. Earlier, another organisation 'Rajshahi Manobik Foundation' distributed water and oral saline drinks at the Alupatti intersection of the city.

Around 10 to 15 young persons of The Smiling Foundation handed out bottles of juice (sharbat) to rickshaw-pullers, auto-rickshaw drivers and other people on the streets in Shaheb Bazar. They expressed their empathy with the people suffering in the heat wave.

Rickshaw-puller Muslim Uddin, who received a bottle of sharbat, said, "This drink is doing me good. This is a good initiative. It is hard work plying a rickshaw the whole day and we drink water constantly. This sharbat is a relief."

President of the organisation Iram Ajmain Mugdha and general secretary Samius Sakib said, the weather in Rajshahi is precarious at the moment. Many people simply stay at home, but the working people have to come out and work for survival. They said they had taken up this initiative to offer these people some form of relief. They are also spreading the message for everyone to plant trees.

Earlier at around 12:00 noon, Rajshahi Manobik Foundation distributed bottled water and saline water at the Alupatti intersection. They distributed the drinks among about 120 pedestrians and auto-rickshaw drivers at the intersection.

Rajshahi meteorological office sources say that Rajshahi recorded the highest temperature this season yesterday, Saturday, at 3:00 in the afternoon, at 41.5°Celsius. The highest temperature today, Sunday up till 2:00 in the afternoon was recorded at 40.6°Celsius. The temperature in Rajshahi is generally the highest at around 3:00 in the afternoon.

The last rainfall in Rajshahi was 1mm on 30 March, when the temperature had fallen to 22°Celsius. Temperatures have been on a rise since then. The lowest temperature today was 26.2°Celsius.