Heat wave grips Bihar, school summer vacations extended further

With a heat wave sweeping Bihar, the primary sections of all public and private schools in the state capital have been ordered closed till June 23, an official said on Tuesday.

Patna District Magistrate Ravi Kumar on Tuesday ordered summer vacation of students from class 1 to 8 be further extended till June 23 in view of heat wave conditions here. Last week, he had ordered extension of the vacations till June 19.

Monsoon is still away from Bihar with met department officials saying that there is no chance of rains in next five to six days. Patna and Gaya districts recorded temperature above 42 degrees Celsius since last three-four days.

The all-India weather summary and forecast bulletin issued by the India Meteorological Department stated that heat wave conditions are likely to prevail over eastern parts of the country during the next 48 hours.It also stated that heat waves were observed at isolated places over Gangetic Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar and Odisha.

The much-awaited southwest monsoon is expected to reach Bihar by the end of June. "Monsoon is delayed and now will arrive by last week of this month," said met department official S.K. Patel.

Monsoon normally hits the state between June 10 and 12. But no monsoon till the third week of June has triggered fears of deficit rainfall again, which could result in a drought-like situation in the state.

Farmers were hopeful of normal monsoon like last year which had helped them increase their paddy output.

--IANS

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