Severe cold, fog paralyse life across K-P plains
Children sit around a fire to keep warm during foggy weather in Peshawar. Photo: APP
The grip of severe cold and dense fog across most plains of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, including Peshawar, has disrupted normal life, causing widespread inconvenience, with grim anticipations that the temperature is likely to drop further.
The Meteorological Department has forecasted that the unrelenting cold wave is set to persist throughout the week, with temperatures anticipated to plummet even further.
For the past week, the plains of K-P have been engulfed in an unyielding veil of bitter cold and thick fog.
The closure of the motorway due to the dense fog has resulted in routine traffic snarls along the GT Road. There have been also reports of accidents in some areas. However, no casualties have been reported.
Meanwhile, the health department has sounded the alarm, highlighting an increased risk of pneumonia and heart attacks due to the biting cold.
Peshawar recorded a chilling 2 degrees Celsius at 5 am, although the intensity of the cold makes it feel like sub-zero temperatures, causing daily life to grind to a halt amid the dry and piercingly cold conditions.
It is also important to note that with schools reopening in the plains, the situation has gotten worse for many. Two teachers succumbed to the severe cold on Monday in the province.
Two teachers succumb to unforgiving cold
The biting cold wave sweeping across the province on Monday claimed the lives of two teachers in the plains, including Peshawar, as temperatures plummeted to unforgiving lows.
Meanwhile, despite the education department's directive to resume classes for middle, high, and higher secondary schools, attendance remained strikingly low.
Officials from the education department reassured that the cold's severity was not extreme and anticipated that there would be an improvement within a week.
In defiance of the severe cold, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government stood firm on its decision not to extend winter holidays for schools in the plains, reopening the schools on Monday.
However, the frosty weather severely impacted attendance, with the presence of children almost non-existent. Both students and teachers grappled unsuccessfully to fend off the cold, with many classrooms empty.
Read: https://tribune.com.pk/story/2451585/pneumonia-cases-surge-in-winter
Meanwhile, tragedy struck at the Government Higher Secondary School, Kachi Paind DI Khan, where Secondary School Teacher (SST) Muhammad Muneer collapsed due to the harsh cold. He was rushed to a nearby hospital but succumbed to the extreme weather conditions.
Similarly, in the Bakhshali Gujrabad area of Mardan, another SST teacher met a similar fate as he struggled to endure the brutal cold while commuting to school on a motorcycle. Despite receiving medical attention, his condition deteriorated and he passed away.
It is pertinent to note that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government extended the winter holidays for government and private primary schools until January 13 due to severe cold and fog.
As per a notification, all private and government primary schools (from playgroup to Class 5) across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will remain closed till January 13 due to the prevailing cold weather conditions.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 9th, 2024.