Poverty Trapped in Cold

With the sharp fall in mercury and bite of cold gaining in intensity, different sections of  people in the capital, particularly the poor with no roof over their heads, children and older people are bearing the brunt of it all..
The intensity of the cold weather has been growing in different parts of the country as well.
Temperatures came down to 9 degrees Celsius in the capital last Saturday, the lowest this season.
When this correspondent visited different parts of the city at night, he found the poor and the destitute searching for shelter at Kamalapur and Tejgaon rail stations, in different underpasses, on road dividers and footpaths.  They were also wrapping themselves in whatever they could collect --- polythene sheets, plastic bags and gunny bags.
Children of families inhabiting the street sleep close to one another as a way of protecting themselves from the cold snap.
Day labourers at Karwan Bazar were found curled up in the baskets they use to carry the goods of their customers. At the same time, they did not want the baskets to be stolen.
Lower income and lower middle class families have been buying winter clothes from roadsides at relatively cheaper prices.

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Photo: Anisur Rahman