Can't Drop Guard
The country is in for yet another cold spell. The intempestive January rain hints the proverbial teeth in the cold of Bengali month Magh will be duly felt. This may take many of us by unpleasant surprise because having shivered and clattered our teeth through what many dubbed as the bitterest cold spell in 70 years, we are all within our commonsensical right to think that winter is over for this year. It may not be so.
At its advent, the cruel cold bite this year caught every one unawares. Naturally casualties particularly in the northern belt of the country were pretty high. It would be extremely unfortunate if the revisitation of chill finds us in an equally unequipped state. Experience ought to hold us in good stead.
We have repeatedly tried to drive home the message that it is not cold that kills people, but poverty. It is the inaccessibility of the poor, unaccommodated in the basics of life that we have to address. The Daily Star was among the first who suggested opening up the public roofs like schools and colleges for nocturnal shelter of the homeless. But it seems to have gone a-begging.
Not just tactile discomfort, we have to think about the after effect of winter in the health sector. Cold could leave a percentage of the population suffering from pneumonia and other cold related respiratorial complications.
An emergency programme for sending succour, say warm clothes , medicine seems to be what the doctor ordered. But it will have to be sincere and the authorities would do well to concentrate on the spots that winter usually casts its chilling eye on, areas like the greater Rangpur, Dinajpur, Rajshahi and Kushtia. There is no point in spreading the contingency arrangement too thin across the country.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments