The country is burning in heat wave for 29 consecutive days. Such intensity and persistence of heat in the month of April has not been seen in the last 76 years. Rain is forecast on the second day of next month, but before that, the heat seems to have taken a more aggressive form. Yesterday, on Monday, the third highest temperature in the history of the country was recorded at 43 degrees Celsius in the western district of Chuadanga. In the last 10 years, this district has never experienced such temperature. The highest temperature recorded in Khulna in the last 25 years was 41.8 degrees Celsius on the same day. Meanwhile, two more deaths were reported in the country yesterday due to extreme heat. Apart from this, the government has announced a seven-day holiday in schools and colleges. Various universities have also decided to take classes online.

The mercury rose to 40.3 degrees Celsius in the capital Dhaka yesterday. The busy streets of the capital were empty since this morning due to the ruddy nature of Mid Baisakh. Shops were open but crowded. As the day wore on, the air was getting lighter. Due to the intense heat, the inside of the various buildings was also sweltering. And the public transport became like a furnace. After this hot condition throughout the day, the heat did not decrease even in the evening. All together, the entire capital has become a hot terrain. The working people who are out on the streets are suffering the most. The drivers were seen driving the rickshaw alone in the scorching sun. The same is the case with other street workers.

The situation in Chuadanga is so dire that the pitch of the road is melting due to extreme heat wave. Several villages in Damurhuda and Alamdanga are not receiving water in tubewells as the groundwater level has gone down. Again, the condition of the vegetable fields in the field is bad. The number of patients suffering from various diseases including diarrhea and respiratory problems is increasing in the hospitals. Labourers, day laborers, rickshaw-van drivers are spending idle time without being able to work. The concerned authorities have miked the issue of repeatedly issuing heat alerts in the district to warn and make the public aware of the heat wave.

Yesterday the second highest temperature in the country was 42.8 degrees Celsius in Jessore. Apart from this, the maximum temperature recorded in Rajshahi was 42.6 degrees. In summer, the mango pulp is falling there. In the meantime, the field is dry. Air, water, roads, houses are getting heated all day long.

Temperature history
Last year also on April 17, a temperature of 43 degrees Celsius was recorded at Ishwardi in Pabna. Before that, the same temperature was recorded in 1995 and 2002, which is the third highest in the history of the country. And on May 21, 2014, the temperature in Chuadanga reached 43.2 degrees Celsius, the second highest in history. After independence, a temperature of 45.1 degrees Celsius was recorded on 18 May 1972, the highest in the country’s recorded history. The highest temperature in Dhaka this season was 40.4 degrees Celsius on April 20. And on April 16 last year, the highest temperature recorded in Dhaka was 40.6 degrees Celsius. Before that, in April 1965, the maximum temperature in Dhaka was 42 degrees. And in 1960, the mercury rose to a record 42.3 degrees Celsius in Dhaka.
In 2014 there were 26 consecutive days of heat wave from 5th to 30th April. In 2016, there was a heat wave for 25 consecutive days from April 6 to 30. Last year there were 23 consecutive days of heat wave from April 13 to May 5.

Meteorologist AKM Nazmul Haque said that the heat wave which has lasted for 29 consecutive days in this season may continue for a few more days. On or after May 2, the northern, northeastern and southeastern regions of the country, especially Mymensingh, Sylhet, Chittagong and Barisal, will be affected. Rainfall is likely at many places in the division. At that time, the ongoing heat waves in these areas will subside. However, the ongoing heatwave will continue in the western parts of the country including Dhaka, especially Khulna, Rajshahi region. Rainfall is likely in these areas around 4-5.

Meteorologist Omar Farooq said that the temperature is always high in these areas. It has been like this for a long time. Because these areas are next to Bihar, West Bengal in India. In those areas of India, the temperature rose to 44 degrees yesterday; Its light comes here.

Samarendra Karmakar, the former director of the Meteorological Department, says that water vapor is expected to accumulate and rain. It is not accumulating but is moving away. That’s why it’s getting hotter.

4 more deaths
A laborer named Manik Mia (50) died due to heat illness in Palash of Narsingdi. Yesterday afternoon, he fell ill while working in a paddy field in Ghorashal of the upazila. His house is in Hatibanda of Rangpur. Apart from this, a woman named Latifa Begum (40) fell ill while doing road repair work in Sinhari village of Bakua union in Haripur upazila of Thakurgaon.

Abdul Matin (64), a former player of the district football team, died yesterday due to heat illness in Kishoreganj. A night watchman was killed and seven schoolgirls fell ill in Muradnagar due to intense heat. Jalal Uddin (50), the night watchman of Ramchandrapur Akbar’s Nesha Balika Vidyalaya of Upazila, fell ill while working in the extreme heat at Muradnagar, Comilla. All of them are believed to have died of heat stroke.