Mercury drops a bit; Odisha heat wave toll now 25

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, May 31:

Even though the mercury dropped by a few degrees Celsius and some parts of Odisha received rainfall today, the death toll in the state due to sunstroke has now increased to 25.

People in most parts of the state heaved a sigh of relief after the mercury plummeted by a few degrees across Odisha bringing some much-needed respite from the sweltering heat.

The office of the Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) today said that 25 out of 115 deaths reported this year have been confirmed as caused by sun stroke. The other complaints received are under scrutiny and the toll is likely to increase, it said.

On the other hand, the regional MeT office here has predicted light rains and thundershowers at one or two places in south Odisha, besides Angul, Dhenkanal, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj and Jajpur districts in the next 24 hours.

There will be strong and gusty surface winds along coastal Odisha reaching 40-45 KMPH, it said.

While Sonepur in western Odisha remained the hottest place in the state today at 43.3 degrees Celsius, Titlagarh and Balangir town recorded 43 degrees C, followed by 42.9 degrees C at Sambalpur, 42.5 degrees C at Sundargarh, 42.1 degrees C at Hirakud and 42 degrees C at Bhawanipatna, the weatherman said.

The industrial town of Angul recorded 41.1 degrees C and Jharsuguda 41 degrees C.

There was marginal drop in the temperatures in the coastal belt today. The temperature in Bhubaneswar was recorded at 39.6 degrees C as compared to 39.9 degrees C recorded yesterday, the MeT office said.