Nepalgunj, June 9:

Soaring temperature and heatwave has affected normal life here since the last few days.

The maximum temperature has been topping the 40 degree Celsius mark for a week. The field office of the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology here said maximum temperature of 42.8 degree Celsius was recorded last Saturday.

The heat is affecting life, chief of the field office of hydrology and meteorology in Nepalgunj, Jeevchha Shah said.

Daily wage workers, rickshaw and tanga-pullers are facing problems in earning a living because few people come out to the streets during the day time. “Gusts of hot wind blow all the day, I am unable to ply my rickshaw during the day,” a rickshaw-puller Prem Tharu said, adding, “I used to earn over Rs 100 per day. Now, however, I am hardly able to muster Rs 40 a day as I have to pull my rickshaw in the mornings and evenings only.”

Vegetables in the fields are drying up, farmers said, adding that the hot wind starts blowing from 10 am.

The number of those hospitalised for dysentery, heatstroke and skin diseases is increasing, Bheri Zonal Hospital sources said. Due to the extreme daytime heat schools are being run in the morning, PABSON (Banke) chairperson Arjun Shrestha said.