Dense fog disrupted largely air, water, and road communication throughout the country, causing immense suffering to thousands of people on Saturday.
As the cold wave is sweeping, moderate to thick fog hangs low at various places over the country. People from low income groups, especially those living in the north-western region have no option but to stay indoors. Clouds, mists and thin layer of fogs apparently give a gloomy look from dawn to dusk.
For around five hours all types of flight of aircrafts remained suspended at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) since early morning on Saturday. HSIA director Touhid-ul-Ahsan confirming this said, due to dense fog normal flight operation was disrupted till 10.30 am.
During this time, one Biman flight and two other cargo flights landed at Kolkata airport while another US Bangla flight landed at Myanmar. The flight on domestic routes were also delayed due to poor visibility at the airport. However, normal flight operation resumed around 11.00 am on the day.
A similar situation was also observed at Shah Amanat International Airport at Chattogram. Its director Sarwar-e-Alam said dense fog disrupted scheduled flight operation till 9.00 am on Saturday. Two international flights were also delayed landing at the airport.
On the other hand, ferry service between Paturia-Daulatdia routes in Padma river remained suspended for almost four hours causing hundreds of vehicles including passenger buses, private cars, and goods loaded trucks to remain stranded on both the banks of the river.
Zillur Rahman, Deputy General Manager (DGM) of Bangladesh Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC) at Paturiaghat, has confirmed this. He said the ferry movement was suspended from 4 am to 7.50 am due to poor visibility.
The normal ferry service resumed at 7.50 am after fog cleared, bringing normalcy gradually in both the harbor areas.
To avoid any unwanted circumstance on the road, Highway Police have advised caution to avoid accidents on cloudy and foggy roads across the country.
In a press statement they said, at present, the sighting is largely reduced due to thick fog on national and regional highways. As a result, none can have an idea of what is coming from the front and opposite, which is raising the fears of unwanted accidents.
Highway police have also advised the vehicle owners and drivers to use fog light and limit their speed on the road.
It is to be noted, due to poor visibility on the Bogra highway, a truck driver died while two trucks hit one another while another one died at Thakurgaon.
