SUKKUR: Thick fog has badly affected the rail and road transport networks in the upper Sindh districts gripped in severe cold for the last few days.

The sharply declining minimum temperatures have forced most people to remain indoors, and still, use woolies to save themselves from cold-related effects and ailments.

Over the last three days, attendance in both private and public sector offices and movement of vehicles on roads has been very thin in Sukkur, Ghotki, Jacobabad, Kandhkot-Kashmore and Shikarpur districts.

The chilling cold waves had started sweeping through the Sukkur and Ghotki region on Friday evening and gradually gripped the entire region within the next two days. On Monday, the minimum temperature in most districts of upper Sindh ranged between three and five degrees Celsius but the feels-like temperature was stated to be below the freezing point.

The minimum temperatures in central and southern Sindh also dropped sharply on Monday evening.

Train schedules disturbed The schedule of the arrival and departure of passenger trains has been disturbed due to the thick fog in the norther areas of Sindh. According to senior railway officials in Lahore, the timings could not be maintained as the country`s northern areas, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Balochistan were also hit by thick fog.

They said the extremely low visibility situation remained dangerous during night hours and usually started improv-ing at different timings in different areas till afternoon. Therefore, they said, most train services had to be run behind schedule, hence late arrival at their destinations.

Passengers helpless Scores of men, women and children intending to travel by train were found to be helpless due to the absence of staff at the `inquiry window` of most railway stations. Media personnel visiting several stations in Sukkur, Ghotki and some other districts reported that the families and individuals were seen looking for the staff to know about the exact timings of the arrival and departure of their desired trains but in vein.

Some of the passengers speaking to them said they braved the chilling weather conditions to catch the train butwere disappointed to find no one here to tell as to how long they would have to wait for the same. They said they had decided to leave their homes after failing to receive such information from the `inquiry` over phone.

An official, who had no unconcern with the inquiry or information, told the media that how could the staff at the inquiry give people such information when they too did not have any idea.

The perturbed passengers said the railways authorities must at least have a perfeet telecommunication network and the government should ensure an uninterrupted Internet service so that people should not undergo such miseries.

Road communication The intercity bus services were also hit by fog and severe cold. Operators ofthese services told the media at their stands that they had been getting a very low number of bookings over the last few days. Most intending travelers seemed to have postponed their plan due to the tough weather conditions. `We are also avoiding to run our services during the hours when thick fog envelops our route because driving in such a situation is highly risky,` they said.

Other modes of transport, like cabs and tri-wheelers, are faced with a much decline in availability of passengers. The number of such vehicles plying on roads and in lanes appeared to be around 10-20pc as against the normal quantum.

`Life-saving utilities` Life for the people of upper Sindh districts` rural areas is as tough as it has beenfordecadesbecausetherehasbeen no improvement in the electricity and gas supplies to them. Winters are even tougher for them as most villages lacked even infrastructure of these essentially required utilities. These people burn dry wood, straws and junk to keep themselves and their homes warm.

The urban areas do have the infrastructure but power loadshedding, suspension of supply and breakdowns mostly stretch over 12 hours a day, hence little respite from harsh weather conditions.

Like most other areas of the country, upper Sindh also faces a deepening gas crisis for months. Absence of proper and adequate electric and gas supply not only deprive the urban population of a source of heating their homes, but also disable them to cook food. The situation has now become a matter of survival for people of both urban and rural areas.

The worst-hit in harsh winters are the elderly, weak and ailing men and women, besides small children.