Odisha sizzles amid scorching heat

Bhubaneswar: Blistering heat swept across Odisha with Titlagarh being the hottest place at 44.5 degree celsius today.

The number of deaths due to sun-stroke stood at three so far this summer. The casualties have been reported from Bararh, Angul and Balangir districts, the office of the Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) said.

The state virtually turned into a melting pot as the mercury breached the 43 degree mark in seven towns and 40 degree mark in at least 15 places, with the MeT office forecasting that the heat wave will intensify.

Talcher recorded a maximum temperature of 44.2 deg C, while it was 44.1 deg C at Angul, 43.8 deg C at Hirakud, 43.5 deg C at both Sambalpur and Bhawanipatna, 43.3 deg C at Jharsuguda and 43 deg C at Sundargarh, the MeT office said.

Malkangiri recorded 42.5 deg C, while the mercury stood at 42 deg C in both Baripada and Sonepur, 42 deg C at Malkangiri and 40.6 deg C at Phulbani town, 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 40.3 deg C.

State capital Bhubaneswar recorded a maximum temperature of 40.8 deg C as compared to 39.8 deg C recorded yesterday, while the temperature in Cuttack stood at 39.8 degree C, it said.

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 degree Celsius in the western region.

—PTI