Recently the capital of the eastern state Odisha, Bhubaneswar’s mercury soared to a whopping 42.2°C. Most parts of Odisha recorded a 40°C and above temperature. Areas like Bolangir and Angul made sure that the people don’t come out to work and look for shed. It is said that this is the highest daytime temperature of March in last 64 years barring 2014!
Technically speaking it is supposed to be spring at this time of the year, but summer seems to have arrived in Bhubaneswar way too sooner as the temperatures were 7 degrees above the normal temperature. The only time Bhubaneswar had very high temperature in March, was in 2014 when mercury touched 42 degrees Celsius.
What has raised temperatures in Odisha this month is the flow of hot winds from Nagpur via Telangana to Odisha in an anti-clockwise fashion.
A trough line formed over sub-Himalayan West Bengal and stretching up to north Odisha, it has eluded the state so far. The average humidity level down, the temperatures will rise further for the next 3-4 days at least. Last year, the rising daytime temperature led to 28 sunstroke deaths in the state.
The temperature remained at 40 degrees and above in Angul (40.1), Balangir (40) and Titlagarh (40.5). The temperatures of Bhubaneswar can cross 46.7 degree Celsius with ease, the highest-ever temperature in the city. Odisha government officials don’t foresee a large number of sunstroke deaths due to several precautionary measures already in place.
Officials said that a similar heat wave condition prevailed over the region last year but the number of deaths has gone down this year due to shutting down of schools and colleges when the temperature is high.
The state government has also banned work after 11 am which involves hard labour.
The last time Odisha witnessed a high number of heat wave deaths was in 1998 when over 2,000 people died of sunstroke, with 1,500 of them from coastal Odisha alone, a region known for its moderate temperature.
Indian Express for inputs
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