Rautahat, June 15 With the rise in mercury level, life has been hit hard in Rautahat. While people have stopped coming out of their homes, marketplaces wear a deserted look during the day. The district recorded the highest temperature of 44 degree Celsius today. Few people were seen walking around in the sweltering heat, in the district headquarters. Frequent load-shedding and lack of rainfall have affected life. High temperature has caused crops to wilt in fields. The sharp rise in temperature has resulted in various diseases, with an increasing number of patients visiting health facilities in the district. According to the district hospital, most of the patients suffer from diarrhoea and fever. “Every day, 40 to 50 patients arrive seeking treatment for diarrhoea and fever,” said Dr Rabindra Jha at the district hospital. Similarly, the number of snakebite cases has also gone up due to increasing temperature. According to Gaur Municipality Education Committee Coordinator Ganesh Giri, the municipality has directed all schools within the municipality to run morning classes up to 10:30 am until June 21, to avoid the sweltering heat. The rise in mercury level has also affected water sources which are reportedly drying up. Meanwhile, life in other districts in the central Tarai, including Bara, Parsa, Sarlahi, Mahottari and Dhanusha has also been affected by the sweltering heat. Meanwhile, schools in Bara are to close from June 16 to 21 to avoid the excessive heat. Citing difficulty of running classes due to the high temperature, both government and private schools across the district will observe a week-long closure at the request of guardians and parents. The decision was taken formally by a meeting of the District Education Coordination Committee at the District Administration Office today. “As it was too hot, we decided to halt regular classes in all schools in the district for a week,” said CDO Rajesh Poudel. The district has been recording 39 degrees Celsius for the past three days.