Sun stroke toll rises to 16 in Odisha

The sun-stroke toll mounted to 16 in Odisha today with two deaths reported from the districts even as Bhubaneswar was the hottest place in the state at 43.5 degrees Celsius.
The toll due to sun-stroke rose to 16 after two deaths were from Angul and Jajpur districts, according to the office of the Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) here.
The number of suspected sunstroke death cases has increased to 156 from 152, it said.
As the maximum temperature in at least 12 places in the state crossed the 40 degree mark, the mercury level in the state capital soared to 43.5 degrees Celsius as against 41.5 degrees Celsius recorded yesterday, the MeT office said.

In the west Odisha town of Sonepur too the temperature was 43.5 degrees Celsius, while the maximum temperature in Sundargarh was 42 degrees Celsius, Hirakud 41.8 degrees, Talcher 41.5 degrees, Angul 41.3 degrees and Chandbali 41.2 degrees Celsius, it said.
Both Cuttack and Dhenkanal recorded maximum temperature of 41 degrees Celsius.
Though Doppler weather radar and satellite imageries indicated occurrence of thundersquall accompanied by hail and gusty surface wind at some places, the MeT office said the mercury level would largely remain unchanged and the heatwave condition would continue.