Over the last seven days, heatwaves have made the temperature in the capital four to five degrees Celsius higher than the corresponding days in the last 30 years.
Apart from health risks, this has also affected the incomes of a wide range of workers, from rickshaw pullers, restaurant workers, and street vendors to stores inside the city’s numerous markets.
The heatwave and consequent decline in passengers wiped out the income of rickshaw-puller Md Anarul, the breadwinner for a family of four. They reside in a rented house in Dhaka’s Adabor.
From 8:30am to noon yesterday, he could earn Tk 370. He had only two hours to go until he would have to return the rickshaw to the owner and pay Tk 150 as daily rent.
“On one hand, you have to toil hard and sweat when you are out on the street. On the other hand, you don’t have people asking for rides. Schools and colleges are suspended. I have been earning less for around a week,” he said.
But the hardships do not end there.
“You have to buy coils to fight mosquitoes and bear high temperatures at night too,” Anarul said while waiting for passengers near the Jigatola intersection in Dhanmondi in the afternoon.
Yesterday, the mercury hit 38 degrees Celsius in Dhaka, the business and economic centre of the country.
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