Odisha reels under heat, mercury rises to 43.7 degrees

Odisha continued to reel under intense heat, with one of its towns Thursday recording 43.7 degrees Celsius, the day's highest in the state, an official said.

Normal life was hit in the district headquarters town of Angul, about 160 km from state capital Bhubaneswar, where the mercury climbed to 43.7 degrees Celsius.

A substantial number of people were forced to stay indoors in the Angul industrial town, especially while the heat was at its peak.

The district headquarters towns of Sonepur, Sundergarh, Jharsuguda and Bolangir also recorded the maximum temperatures respectively of 43.4 degrees Celsius, 42.5 degrees, 42.8 degrees, and 42 degrees Celsius, an official of the Bhubaneswar Meteorological Centre told IANS.

State capital Bhubaneswar remained relatively less hot, with the maximum temperature of 41.2 degrees Celsius, the official said.

Meanwhile, the toll in the state due to sunstroke rose to two this summer, with the authorities confirming the death of an elderly man in Kanjiama village in southern Ganjam district.

A senior official of the state relief commissioner office said the victim, a 72-year old man, died April 17.

An elderly man had died of sunstroke in Cuttack district April 6.