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Cold wave kills scores, destroys crops across South Asia

NEW DELHI (AlertNet)- A cold wave across parts of South Asia has killed scores of people - mostly children and the elderly - in India, Nepal and Bangladesh.

There are no official figures, but media reports in India say at least 100 people have died due to the cold weather and icy winds in the north and east of the country.

Bihar and Uttar Pradesh states, both bordering Nepal, as well as the capital, New Delhi, have been amongst the worst affected areas with temperatures falling as low as five degrees Celcius (41 degrees Fahrenheit).

Flights and trains have been severely disrupted and schools have been closed until the end of the week.

"We have arranged bonfires at 2,300 places across the state as the cold is very biting," said Ramrup Singh, senior disaster management official for Bihar state. "We have taken all precautionary measures to help villagers survive the cold."

DEATHS IN BANGLADESH

In Bangladesh, low temperatures coupled with fog and cold winds in northern and southwest parts of the country have killed over 40 people and resulted in over 3,400 being hospitalised, according to the United Nations.

Hospitals in some of the worst-affected districts, such as Nilphamari and Kurigram in the north, have reported higher numbers of admissions with cold weather-related illnesses.

"Unable to buy warm clothes, poor people are struggling to ward off cold bite at night," said the U.N. Development Programme in a statement. "There are widespread reports of people wrapping themselves with gunny and plastic bags ... (and) mosquito nets."

Aid workers say the weather has also caused crop losses and the death toll of livestock is rising, adversely impacting the income of already impoverished families.

COLD WAVES IN NEPAL

In Nepal, the government said it had not received any report of cold wave deaths so far. But media reports said at least 18 people had died since December due to cold weather in the country's southern plains.

Weather officials said the southern plains bordering India were reeling below normal temperatures for more than two weeks causing cold waves in the region.

"Due to persistence of fog for a longer period in the Indo-Gangetic plains, the region has seen cold wave conditions. This could continue for a few days more," said Shiva Nepal, an official at the meteorological office in Kathmandu.