Bara, December 25

The bone-biting cold in Tarai districts has hit life badly. The excessive cold following the thick fog has disrupted life.

Poor families, elderly citizens, patients and children have been affected the most. They are facing hard time due to lack of warm clothes.

Sita Ram Mahara, 60, of Kalaiya sub-metropolis said he was facing problems with the onset of the cold season. 'I have no warm clothes to wear,' he said, adding that he was compelled to spend the cold nights on a mat with a thin bed sheet. 'We sit around a fire to beat the cold,' he added.

Mahara said he could not manage quilt, mattress and jackets to keep warm.

Bhagaru Ram, another local, also shared the same plight. He added that he could not go out for work in the cold season. 'Most of the people in poor households are suffering from common cold, fever, and cough due to exposure to inclement weather,' he said.

Sabita Devi Ram, a local woman, said it was very difficult to take care of children and the elderly.

'We are compelled to sleep on a mat and straw in the bone-biting cold. We have to depend on firewood to keep ourselves warm at night as we cannot afford warm clothes,' she said.

The local government is apathetic towards the plight of the poor. 'There is no one who hears our complaints,' she added. Locals said that even the ward office had not shown any interest in coming to the rescue of the poor.

A version of this article appears in the print on December 26, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.