DHAKA
\nThousands of Bangladeshis have gathered in Dhaka to pray for rain in the middle of an extreme hot spell that has put health authorities on heatstroke alert.
\nThe weather across the region is usually hot across the region in April before the summer monsoon season, but this year temperatures have been unusually high, reaching 42 degrees Celsius in parts of Bangladesh.
\nThe country has been on alert since last week, as the punishing heatwave has disrupted agriculture, raised the risk of health complications and forced schools to close for 33 million children.
\nAs the Bangladesh Meteorological Department renewed its warning that the heatwave is likely to persist during the weekend \u2014 or until a new notice is issued \u2014 thousands of people in Dhaka prayed on Wednesday and Thursday for relief.
\nThey gathered in city mosques and rural fields to pray for rain.
\n\u201cSpecial prayers for rain have been organized in many parts of Dhaka on Thursday. Thousands of people joined these prayers … in addition to that, a special prayer for rain, which Muslims around the world have practiced since the days of the Prophet Muhammad, has taken place in many parts across the country,\u201d Motiur Rahman Akand, spokesperson of the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, the country\u2019s largest religious political party, which organized the prayers, told Arab News.
\n\u201cWhen there is a natural crisis, especially drought, which causes severe suffering for human beings and all other living creatures, people should seek help from the Almighty to get relief from this situation.\u201d
\nHospitals were on high alert as at least 20 people died from heatstroke in the past five days alone.
\n\u201cWe have been preparing quite ahead for managing heatwave-related patients … all the government health facilities are guided not to admit any other patients unless it\u2019s an emergency,\u201d Dr. Moinul Ahsan, director of the hospital wing of the Directorate General of Health Services, told Arab News.
\n\u201cWe are on alert and monitoring the situation closely. Working-class people are suffering most amid this heatwave … children, pregnant women and the elderly are also most vulnerable in this situation.\u201d
\nBangladesh\u2019s geography and low-lying delta topography make it particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change, and for the past two decades, the country has launched various environmental schemes to mitigate the worsening situation.
\nRanking among the 10 countries most prone to climate devastation, Bangladesh has been recognized as a global leader in adaptation and resilience, and in 2005 was one of the first least-developed countries to launch a national adaptation program of action.
\nA report released in February by the International Centre for Climate Change and Development, a leading research institute in Dhaka, warned that Bangladesh is reaching the limit of its ability to adapt to extreme weather.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
DHAKA Thousands of Bangladeshis have gathered in Dhaka to pray for rain in the middle of an extreme hot spell that has put health authorities on heatstroke alert. The weather across the region is usually hot across the region in April before the summer monsoon season, but this year temperatures have been unusually high, reaching […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":402799,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-402771","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n