Byas Shankar Upadhyaya

RAJBIRAJ: Increasing temperature has thrown life out of gear in various districts of eastern Tarai including Saptari district.

Number of patients of seasonal diseases including viral fever and diarrhoea has increased in health facilities in the district.

Senior Assistant Health Worker of Rajbiraj-based Gajendra Narayan Singh Sagarmatha Zonal Hospital, Bijaya Kanta Jha, said the number of fever and diarrhoea patients visiting the hospital has significantly increased for last few days.

A number of people fell unconscious due to the heat wave whereas the increasing mercury also triggered risks of snake bite, he added.

Around three to four snake bite victims visit the hospital everyday, according to Jha.

"We have been keeping the patients on floors for want of sufficient beds," the official said, "We have been providing services at our best."

Daily wage earners hit hard

Meanwhile, daily wage earners said their life has been worst hit by the increasing temperature.

A rickshaw puller in Rajbiraj, Ramprit Mandal, said he was forced to stop his work from 11 am to 3 pm every day, thanks to excessive temperature.

Neither do people commute during the time, he added.

An eatery owner Suresh Sah also said he cannot open his restaurant during daytime.

He demanded that concerned authorities provide free drinking water to locals at various junctions of the town.