Odisha sizzles amid soaring temperatures

Blistering heat swept across Odisha with Titlagarh being the hottest place at 45.5 degrees Celsius today.
The sun-stroke toll also climbed to three during the day, following a death reported from Balangir district, the office of the Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) said.
Earlier, two sun-stroke deaths had been reported in the state, one each in Bargarh and Angul district, it said adding, 15 cases of suspected sun-stroke deaths reported from different areas are now being investigated.
In view of the sizzling temperatures, all schools in the state remained closed from today and are scheduled to reopen on June 18 after summer vacation, which normally begins from the first week of May, officials said.

The state virtually turned into a melting pot as the mercury breached the 43 degree mark in eight towns and 40 degree mark in at least 17 places, with the MeT office forecasting that the heat wave will intensify.
Angul recorded a maximum temperature of 44.7 deg C, while it was 44.4 deg C at Talcher, 44 deg C at Sundargarh, 43.8 deg C at Bhawanipatna, 43.6 deg C at Hirakud, 43.4 deg C at Balangir, 43.2 deg C at Dhenkanal and 43 deg C at Jharsuguda, the MeT office said.

Sambalpur recorded 42.8 deg C, while the mercury stood at 42.4 deg C in Baripada, 42 deg C at Malkangiri, 41 deg C at Sonepur and 40.7 deg C in Keonjhar, it said.

The searing heat did not spare the coastal region also as the temperature shot up in many places including Chandbali where the mercury touched 41.2 deg C.
Bhubaneswar recorded a maximum temperature of 39.8 deg C as compared to 37.7 deg C recorded yesterday, while the temperature in Cuttack climbed to 40.8 deg C from 38 deg C yesterday.
The MeT office said heat wave like condition is likely to prevail over interior and western districts of Odisha for a week and the temperature may range between 43 and 45 degrees Celsius in the western region.