Odisha reports first sunstroke death; mercury level crosses 44 degC

With Odisha reeling under intense heatwave conditions over the last few days, the state has reported the season’s first sunstroke death, officials said on Friday. Sixty-two-year-old Laxmikanta Sahu of Maheshpur in Balasore district died due to sunstroke on April 15. This was the first sunstroke death this summer, an official at the Special Relief Commissioner’s office said.
Public Health Director Niranjan Mishra said that 71 people have admitted to different hospitals in the state after falling ill due to heatwave. Of them, 35 were from Sundargarh, and seven each from Mayurbhanj and Angul.

Boudh town in western Odisha was the hottest place in the state at 44.3 degrees Celsius, followed by 44.2 degrees Celsius in the northern Odisha town of Baripada.

Ten other stations registered maximum temperature at or above 43 degrees Celsius, including Jharsuguda (43.8), Angul (43.7), Titlagarh (43.5), Bolangir, Bhawanipatna, Malkangiri and Nayagarh (43).

As many as 32 places recorded maximum temperature at or above 40 degrees Celsius.

Bhubaneswar recorded the maximum temperature of 41.4 degrees Celsius, while it was 42.6 degrees Celsius in neighbouring Cuttack city. The IMD has forecast that heatwave conditions will prevail in Odisha till April 21. “The maximum temperature is very likely to be 40 degrees Celsius or above at most places and above normal by 3 to 5 degrees Celsius in some districts over the next two days,” the IMD said in a bulletin.

The IMD also said the state may expect some relief from the heatwave conditions due to thunderstorms from Saturday.