A mild to moderate heatwave continued to scorch five divisions, including Dhaka, until Wednesday afternoon amid a heat alert issued by the Bangladesh Meteorological Department for 48 hours.
The heat alert took effect at 6:00pm on Wednesday and might continue sweeping over Dhaka, Rajshahi, Rangpur, Khulna, and Barishal divisions.
The heat alert worried farmers, for it drained them of a lot of money last month to keep their poultry birds and fish alive.
鈥楳y pond is drying up, and I need to water the pond every day,鈥� said Rafiqul Islam, who has a fish farm on 20 bighas in Puthia.
Rafiq spent Tk 12,000 alone last month watering his fish farm.
Frequent heatwaves are particularly worrying for parts of the northern region, which is severely exposed to drought. Some fishermen are selling their fish, unable to spend so much on watering their farms.
Fish farms in the northern region are mostly dependent on lifted groundwater.
抖阴精品 staff correspondent in Rajshahi reported that there are 50,000 commercial fish farms in the district facing a severe water crisis.
Excessive temperature reduces oxygen levels in water and causes conditions leading to the generation of poisonous gases. Fish farms were advised to keep seven feet of water in their bodies of water.
Government fisheries officials urged fishermen to avoid using fertiliser and feed less, though it meant slower growth and lower production.
鈥榃hile production dropped, expenses increased because of the heatwave,鈥� said Rafiq, implying that fish prices will go up in the market as a result.
Small poultry farmers suffered significant losses in April.
The fresh heatwave began on May 13, six days after the country鈥檚 longest-ever heatwave ended.
During the last heatwave, the country鈥檚 highest day temperature of 43.8C was recorded in Jashore on April 30, the hottest day in over three decades.
Districts such as Chuadanga and Jashore saw day temperatures stay at 40C or above for almost three weeks between mid-April and early May.
Day temperatures frequently exceeded 40C in Dhaka, which saw its peak at 40.5C on April 30, the second hottest day in the capital in the past 64 years.
The last heatwave prompted the closure of educational institutions for over a week. At least 15 people died, according to the official account of the government.
Thousands of poultry birds died because of intense heat throughout April and early May, prompting the closure of many poultry farms.
On Wednesday, Bangladesh鈥檚 highest temperature of 39C was recorded in Dinajpur. The day temperature in Dhaka hit 36.3C in the capital.
The BMD said that a moderate heatwave was sweeping over the districts of Pabna, Dinajpur, Nilphamari, Kurigram, and Rangamati.
A mild heatwave was sweeping over Dhaka, Mymensingh, Khulna, Barishal, Sylhet, and the rest of the Rajshahi and Rangpur divisions, as well as the districts of Chattogram, Cumilla, Chandpur, Noakhali, Feni, and Bandarban.
The heatwave is likely to continue and spread, the BMD said.
The power crisis worsened on Wednesday as electricity demand rose across the country.
Load-shedding peaked at 572MW at 1:00am on Wednesday. At the hour, the power demand was 14,950 MW, the Power Grid Company of Bangladesh said.
Bangladesh has an installed generation capacity of over 27,000MW but the capacity has remained greatly unused because of the fuel shortage owing to the dollar crisis.
The BMD said that the heatwave might continue until May 19, with chances of rain on May 20.