ELECTION 99
US EDITION
COLUMNISTS
DIARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ELECTIONS
ARCHIVES

Search Rediff

Cold wave continues to take a heavy toll in Bihar

Soroor Ahmed in Patna

Though many places in North India are reeling under sub-zero temperatures, it is in Bihar, where the mercury has not delved below four degrees celsius, that the maximum number of deaths -- 170 -- have occurred. That is the toll for one week -- and the actual toll may be even higher.

The unusually high death figure is an indicator of the poverty in the state as hundreds of people still sleep under the sky even in Patna. However, there are other geo-sociological factors, such as the seasonal migration of a large number of labourers, which too contributed to this high death toll.

A cursory survey of the victims of the cold wave reveal that many of them are migrants from less colder places. For example, one person died while travelling in the sleeper coach of the Awadh Assam Mail while another death was reported at the ticket-counter of Barauni railway station. Migrant labourers or petty businessmen returning from the much warmer coastal cities of Calcutta or Bombay in this holiday season fall ill as their bodies are not properly acclimatised. Several thousands of Biharis work or do business in Calcutta and its vicinity.

It is interesting to note that while the temperature is lowest in Gaya -- in the vicinity of five degrees celsius -- no death has yet been reported from there. The maximum number of deaths has been reported from Nalanda, Patna, Saran, Vaishali, Madhubani, Darbhanga etc which are poor districts that export labour to other parts of the country.

Doctors will attest that the undernourished body is prone to lung infections and the like. Bihar, being a poor state, has more people suffering from malnutrition then elsewhere. According to the famous child specialist, Dr Lala Surajnandan Prasad, new-born babies too are likely to be affected since their skin is not accustomed to low temperatures.

Since such intense cold is often only a passing phenomenon poor people in general do not take extra care unlike those living in the foothills of the Himalayas in the northernmost parts of the state. They think that they can somehow manage to survive this phase. In many cases it has been found that the poor people sell the blankets distributed to them by the government or non-governmental organisations even before the end of the cold season. The money goes to provide for their other urgent needs.

The Patna administration has, according to the district magistrate, Gautam Goswami, build bonfires at 28 places and have shifted many of those sleeping under the sky to government buildings such as schools and offices. Yet such measures might not suffice.

While Patna proper has not had a single death from the cold wave, a dozen persons have died in the villages under its Barh sub-division. Weathermen fear that the cold wave may continue for a few more days. Palamau at 4.5 degree celsius was the coldest place in the state followed by Gaya.

Though all the government schools have been declared closed till January 14 some premier private institutions in Patna openly defied the order and opened them on January 4 after the winter vacation. It was only after the issue was highlighted in the media that they agreed to close the schools again.

The school authorities are of the view that since the CBSE class ten tests were scheduled in the first week of January it was difficult for them to declare the schools closed. What irks the parents most is the strict dress code of these schools and their timings.

Last month the principal of a missionary school in Gaya stipulated that students who have not taken their morning bath will not be allowed to enter their classes. This led to the sickness of a lot of children as they had to take bath as early as six in the morning to attend the class at 7:15. However, the cold wave has forced the school authorities to relax their order.

Tell us what you think of this report