Relentless heatwave wreaks havoc

A pair of Royal Bengal Tigers plays while cooling down in water in Bangladesh National Zoo at Mirpur in Dhaka as a heatwave sweeps through the country on Monday. | — Md Sourav Relentless high temperatures are wreaking havoc across Bangladesh, causing widespread sickness among people and fatalities among animals. The impacts of the heatwave conditions were found to be most intense in the poultry sector, where birds died in large numbers, prompting the closure of farms. Fish farmers remained on high alert as water levels drastically depleted, particularly in northern Bangladesh, causing oxygen dissolved in the water to rapidly disappear and poisonous gases to emerge, threatening fish lives. Domesticated animals such as rabbits and other birds also died in large numbers in parts of Bangladesh, apparently from heat stroke, as a heatwave has been sweeping the country since April 11. Compared with the day before, the temperature slightly fell on Monday, with an ominous forecast of it going up again today and tomorrow and the heatwave not letting up the rest of the month. On Monday, Bangladesh’s highest temperature of 40.6C was recorded in Khulna, Jashore, and Chuadanga as a severe heatwave swept the districts, as well as Bagerhat, Kushita, and Pabna districts. A mild to moderate heatwave with temperatures ranging between 36C and 39.9C was sweeping Dhaka, Rangpur, the rest of Rajshahi and Khulna, Barishal divisions, and parts of Mymensingh, Sylhet and Chattogram divisions. ‘Heat killed 180 birds on my farm in the past three days,’ said Salauddin Bhuiyan Selim, the owner of Bhuiyan Agro, a poultry farm in Sonargaon, Narayanganj. Selim employed two people on his farm to spot birds just before they died so that they could be slaughtered and sold to restaurants. ’Eighty-seven birds died between 12:00pm and 5:00pm on April 20,’ said Selim, referring to the second hottest day Dhaka has recorded since 1960, with the temperature rising to 40.6C. Arrangements such as artificial rain and feeding lemon juice, sharbat, vitamin C, and medicines to poultry birds could not deter the consequences of excessive heat. After closing down his two other poultry farms, each with 1,000 birds, Selim was struggling to save his last firm, where the number of birds went down to 820. The loss of birds and additional expenses induced by the heat greatly increased his production costs. Birds are also dying in poultry farms in Pabna, reported New Age correspondent in the district. Humayun Ahmed lost 36 birds in the past two days, just like his peers in different neighbourhoods in Pabna Sadar, where a severe heatwave has raged over the past few days. Temperatures warmer than 26C have huge impacts on the health of broilers older than 5 weeks, said Md Shawkat Ali, who teaches poultry science at Bangladesh Agricultural University. He advised feeding poultry birds less protein as its metabolisation raises body temperature, though it meant slower growth and less meat production. Bangladesh Poultry Association president Sumon Hawladar was afraid that the intense heat conditions might lead 20,000 poultry farms to shut down, many of them permanently. New Age staff correspondent in Rajshahi reported that fish farmers worked more than normal times taking care of their water bodies so that their fish did not die. ‘Fishes are surrounded by life-threatening problems,’ said Rafiqul Islam, a fish farmer, adding that the most serious of the problems is the depleting water level. Fish farms in the northern district are mostly based on lifted groundwater. Load-shedding, increased power costs, and depleting groundwater levels made it difficult for fish farmers to maintain ideal conditions on their farms. Rajshahi district fisheries officer Jahangir Alam said that fish are comfortable living between 20C to 30C of temperature. ‘Excessive temperature reduces oxygen levels in water and causes conditions,  generating poisonous gases,’ he said, advising fish farms to go five to seven feet deep. He also advised against using fertiliser and feeding less, though it meant slower growth and lower production. Farmers could not keep their investments safe because of frequent power cuts. Farmers needed to lift groundwater, which they could not adequately do because of a power shortage. The power crisis worsened on Monday as electricity demand rose across the country. Load-shedding peaked at 996MW at 3:00pm on Monday, the hottest time of the day. At the hour, the power demand was 15,220 MW, the Power Grid Company of Bangladesh said. Bangladesh has an installed generation capacity of over 27,000MW but the capacity has remained greatly unused because of the fuel shortage owed to the dollar crisis. The highest temperature in Dhaka slightly fell to 37.8C on Monday, compared with the day before. Streets in Dhaka continue to wear a rather deserted look because of extreme heat, compounded by the heat island effect in the densely-populated city with far fewer greenery and water bodies than are required for making a place livable. Health and family welfare minister Samanta Lal Sen said on Monday that he had ordered hospitals to prioritise treating heat-related health problems. He said that many classes in medical colleges would be held online. The number of diarrhoea patients increased in Dhaka hospitals, followed by a surge in the number of pneumonia patients as well. Barishal University, following in the footsteps of some other public universities, colleges, and schools, has decided to keep in-person classes suspended. The Met Office issued a fresh 72-hour heatwave alert on Monday. Studies showed that heat stress can seriously affect productivity and that Bangladesh’s workforce and productivity can be seriously affected because of extreme heat. A recent study released in February by the BMD showed that temperatures increased across all seasons in Bangladesh, with heatwaves becoming more frequent and intense. ‘It is so hot that a dozen of my rabbits died over the past 10 days,’ said Mizanur Rahman, a resident of Mirzapur, Tangail.
Published on: 2024-04-22 19:58:48.493663 +0200 CEST