January 11: Extreme cold triggered by the cold wave for the past one week has thrown normal life out of gear in some districts of Tarai. 

Freezing cold has hit normal life very hard in Siraha, Saptari, Rautahat. The maximum cold was felt of this year in Saptari on Tuesday. Thick fog and cold breeze have made everyday life hard. 

Streets wear deserted looks as people hardly venture out of their homes throughout the day. 
Meanwhile, patients of asthma, diarrhoea, and common cold have increased at hospitals and health centers in the district. 

With the falling mercury, locals can be spotted burning firewood to keep themselves warms in the public places., such as streets.  

Biting cold has hit people from impoverished families such as Dom and Musahar and daily wage earners the most.
 Freezing cold has stopped daily wage earners from going to work. This has made them difficult to make their ends meet, according to Biraju Sada of Tilathi Koiladi Rural Municipality-4.

Satya Narayan Mukhiya of Chhinnamasta Rural Municipality-3, Saptari complained that unbearable cold had hit normal life very hard. 

“We don’t have warm clothes to wear. On the other hand, extreme cold has made it tough to make ends meet”, bemoaned Mukhiya.

Poor and marginalized people from backward communities are relying on firewood collected from the village to avoid coldness. 

“We make fire with firewood and keep ourselves warm,” said Hari Narayan Sada from Saptari headquarters Rajbiraj.