Biratnagar, January 11:

Poor people of the terai region have been finding it hard to pass the nights, having to cope with cold and not having warm clothes. With the ongoing cold wave, every night turns out to be a nightmare for them. But they have not received any assistance so far.

Life in rural areas of the Morang district has been affected due to the cold wave, which has claimed more and more people in the eastern region.

“Due to the lack of warm clothes, we spend the nights sitting around fire to warm ourselves,” said Jhutri Rishidev, a resident of Motipur VDC, Morang. The problem has been a common one for the poor people in the terai region. Every winter brings anxiety to these people.

Bhagawat Saradar, a resident of Thalaha VDC, said: “We make fire by lighting straw and sit around it to warm ourselves up.” Devoid of warm clothes, most of the labourers find it

hard to cope with the chill. Jivan Choudhary, a rickshaw-puller from Tetariya, Morang said: “I do not even have a set of warm clothes to fend off cold.

Summer is the best season for people like us.” He lamented that no one was concerned with the plight of the poor people this season. People living in rural parts of the district sit around fires to fend off cold. Phalku Majhi of Sidhraha urged governmental and non-governmental agencies to help the poor people fend off the chill.