Cold affects Dalit settlement in Bara

Birgunj, Parsa,  A cold wave has crippled life at a Dalit settlement at Telkuwa in Bara. 
Most of the Dalits that include 160 families are poor, and they have thatched-houses and do not have warm clothes to fight the cold. 
Children and elderly persons have been affected the most in particular, and people’s movements have been restricted largely. Many of them have contracted cold-induced diseases like pneumonia and asthma, said health workers. 
Many people have started turning to fire to keep themselves warm. 
The settlement lies on the banks of a local river, and the flooding five months ago had swept away clothes and grains belonging to the Dalits, robbing them of clothes enough to battle the cold. 
---