Scorching heat forces Bangladesh to shut primary schools

By SM Najmus Sakib

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) - Scorching heat has forced Bangladesh to close primary schools nationwide from Monday until Thursday.

Nehal Ahmed, a senior education official, said Monday the ongoing heat wave pushed the government to take this decision.

High temperatures and low rainfall have characterized the weather patterns of the South Asian nation this year.

The heat wave is likely to continue until June 12, Muhammad Abul Kalam Mallik, an official at the Met Department, told Anadolu.

“The average temperature in June is supposed to be in the range of 31.9 degrees Celsius but it rose 2 to 8 degree more across Bangladesh," he added.

In mid-April, the country's westernmost town of Ishwardi recorded 42.8 degrees Celsius, the highest temperature this year.

"The South Asian belt has been found as an extreme weather center. Extreme sun lights have been giving heat 8 to 12 hours in a day uninterruptedly which causes the surface air to become hot. Furthermore, there is no cloud and slow airspeed that is barring the generation of rainfall,” he said.

Hot air is also blowing from neighboring India raising the temperature further, he added.

Frequent power outages across the country have worsened the woes of the public.

The country now has a power shortage of approximately 1,700 megawatts because of the shutdown of several power plants, he added.