Feature: Bangladesh under sun's scorching rays as mercury soars

Rickshaw-puller Afzal Hossain had to take rest under the shade of a roadside tree in Dhaka's diplomatic enclave of Baridhara instead of carrying passengers in the blistering heat of the midday sun on Sunday.

"The weather is very hot today. It's very difficult to pull a rickshaw in such a hot weather. Despite the extremely hot weather I have to pull my rickshaw to make money, which I need for food and rent," said the elderly

rickshaw-puller.

"Due to heat exhaustion after pulling this rickshaw, I must rest," said the tired old man.

Yards away from Baridhara many gathered in front of a stall on a footpath to drink fruit juice to keep them cool in the blistering heat.

Another rickshaw puller Ahmed Mazid who was drinking fruit juice at a stall on footpath said, "We're used to working in the scorching heat of summer. But it's really too hot today and we feel dehydrated just a few minutes after pulling our rickshaws," he said.

The heatwave has gripped many parts of Bangladesh, including the capital Dhaka, as the country enters the height of summer.

Many slum children, as always, were seen jumping into the lake outside the National Assembly building in the center of Dhaka, to beat the heat on the scorching hot day.

Dhaka streets had fewer pedestrians than usual on Sunday afternoon and some open air construction sites had stopped work. The bitumen on several roads in Dhaka had melted in the midday heat, further evidence of the blistering temperature.

Office-goers and schoolchildren were seen carrying umbrellas to shelter themselves from the blazing sunlight and avoid heat related problems like dehydration or sunburn.

"I think an umbrella is not enough today to protect against the hot sunlight," said Abdur Rahman, a university student.

"It's better to stay home today."

According to the Bangladesh Meteorological Department, the highest temperature of the day, recorded in Rajshahi district, 256 km west of the capital city, was 39.2 degrees Celsius.

It said the temperature in Dhaka reached 36.0 degrees Celsius on Sunday.

A BMD meteorologist predicted the mercury will continue to soar this week.

The meteorologist said the current heat wave, which is mild to moderate, is not at all abnormal.

He said such temperatures can be expected in April, May and June every year in Bangladesh.

The searing heat accompanied by a power outage in Dhaka and elsewhere in Bangladesh, a subtropical South Asian country, has made public life miserable to some extent.

A Dhaka dweller said, "Heat hits more at night than in the day time as load shedding halts electricity so we can't use our ceiling fans."

"We also have to endure getting bitten by mosquitoes if we don't hang a mosquito net to channel air from fans before the power goes out." Enditem