STAR REPORT

With the sun becoming visible yesterday and bringing much-needed warmth, people across the country -- especially in northern districts -- finally got some respite after seven days of intense cold and dense fog that had disrupted lives and livelihoods.

Agricultural activities and daily routines regained momentum in both rural and urban areas as the cold eased under sunlight. However, it turned chilly again soon after sunset as cool winds from the Himalayas continued to sweep across the northern region.

Farmers in the north returned to their fields to prepare seedbeds for potato, maize, wheat, Boro paddy, and other crops without delay.

Jatin Chandra Barman, 70, a farmer from the Mahiganj area of Rangpur, said, “With no sunlight for the last seven days, we could not work in the fields amid biting cold and dense fog. This morning [yesterday] we returned to the fields. It is still cold, but tolerable.”

Khitish Chandra Barman, 52, of Yakubpur village in Thakurgaon Sadar upazila, expressed similar sentiments.

Sultan Hossain, a tea vendor in Rangpur city, said business had been slow due to the cold but improved yesterday as the sun came out.

According to the Rangpur Met Office and the Tentulia Weather Observatory, minimum temperatures recorded across the division at 6:00am yesterday were 12.5°C in Rangpur; 12.4°C in Panchagarh, Thakurgaon and Tentulia; 12.7°C in Kurigram; 13°C in Lalmonirhat, Nilphamari and Gaibandha; and 12.1°C in Dinajpur.

The country’s lowest temperature yesterday -- and the lowest of the season so far -- was recorded at 7.5°C in Gopalganj.

Mostafizur Rahman, a meteorologist at the Rangpur Met Office, said the sky cleared and sunlight appeared around 9:00am, causing a slight rise in temperature.

Jitendranath Ray, acting officer of the Tentulia observatory, said cold winds from the Himalayan region continued to blow at 10-12 kilometres per hour, with humidity at 89 percent.

Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) officials said Boro seedbeds would remain unaffected if sunny weather continues but advised farmers to take precautionary measures.

Abdullah Al Mamun, deputy director of the DAE in Kurigram, warned that prolonged adverse weather could have severely damaged agriculture.

Meanwhile, district administrations and various organisations have launched warm clothing distribution drives across northern districts.