The family of 32-year-old Umesh Khanga, a daily wage worker from Gorpar in Kanchanrup Municipality-3 of Saptari district, has been left in the lurch after its breadwinner died while working in extreme cold conditions.

Khanga, who sustained his family with income from physical labour, had travelled to Rupnagar in Kanchanrup-12 on Friday to work on a rooftop concrete job. Local residents said a cold wave sweeping the Tarai had been severe that day, with icy winds blowing over open rooftops.

While working under such conditions, Khanga’s limbs reportedly got numb, and he collapsed at the site.

Fellow workers rushed him to Dhameshwar Hospital, but doctors there were unable to provide care. He was then referred to Kanchanpur Hospital for treatment but Khanga died on the way, according to municipal officials.

His death has left behind his wife Daropati Kumari and their 19-day-old daughter Neha Kumari in acute hardship. “He was the only one earning for the family,” Daropati lamented, holding her newborn in their makeshift shelter. “Even though the cold was unbearable, he went to work, worrying about daily meals and how to buy warm clothes for our baby.”

The family lives in a temporary hut built on public land. Daropati said her husband did not own proper winter clothing and went to work wearing only a thin jacket and half trousers.

“He often thought of buying warm clothes for himself but could not afford them. After our daughter was born, he said he would first buy warm clothes for her, then for himself,” she said.

According to Daropati, his wages were barely enough to repay small loans taken from villagers and to manage food, leaving nothing to guard against winter chill. Now, even paying for funeral rituals has become difficult. Khanga was cremated on Saturday, and his seven-year-old nephew Kishor Kumar is performing the mourning rites.

Ram Sewak Yadav, chief of the health section at Kanchanrup Municipality, confirmed that Khanga died due to hypothermia. “He was working outdoors in extreme cold when his hands and feet stopped functioning,” said Yadav. Due to disputes among municipal officials, winter clothes could not be distributed to poor and marginalised families this season.

Delays and lack of coordination between local governments across the Tarai have left many vulnerable families without relief during cold waves.

Gulten Chaudhary, ward chairman of Kanchanrup-3, said Khanga’s family belongs to an extremely poor Dalit community. “I will visit the family to assess their condition and see what support we can arrange,” he added.