Mercury soars to 46.3 degree in Odisha town

The heat wave condition intensified in Odisha with one of its towns Friday recording a maximum temperature of 46.3 degree Celsius,the highest so far in the state this summer, official said.

The district headquarters town of Bolangir, about 330 km from the state capital recorded 46.3 degree Celsius, an official of the Bhubaneswar meteorological centre told IANS.

Other places which recorded temperature of 45 degrees Celsius and above were Sambalpur - 45.8, Jharsuguda - 45.7, Titlagarh - 45-5, Bhawanipatna - 45.5, Hirakud - 45.4, Subarnapur - 45.2 and Sundargarh - 45.0 degree, he added.

Temperature of five more towns such as Talcher, Angul, Phulbani,Malkangiri and Keonjhar remained between 42 and 45 degrees Celsius, he said.

Keeping the situation in view, the state government has asked the administration of the heat wave affected districts to remain alert.

The state's special relief commissioner has instructed the district collectors to review the situation in their respective areas on daily basis and ensure that all the arrangements to mitigate heat wave and water scarcity situation are in place.

He has also asked them to specifically see that the habitations facing water scarcity are supplied with drinking water through tankers, an official of the special relief commissioner office said.