Sunstroke toll rises to 16 in Odisha: Heatwaves take four more lives; Angul sizzles at 43.1 degress Celsius

Bhubaneswar: Sunstroke toll climbed to 16 in Odisha on Monday even as rains and a nor’wester (northwester) in some areas brought respite from the intense heat in the state. [caption id=“attachment_3495065” align=“alignleft” width=“379”] Representational image. PTI[/caption] The death toll due to sunstroke, which stood at 12, mounted to 16 this summer with four more casualties — three from Sundargarh and one in Angul district — the office of the Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) said in a statement. With this, four heat-related deaths each have been reported from Sambalpur and Angul, while three deaths each took place in Bargarh and Sundargarh districts. One each in Balangir and Bhadrak, the statement said. With the temperature sliding in many areas following rains, the mercury breached the 40 degrees Celsius mark in only seven places in the state, all in the western region. Angul was the hottest place in the state recording 43.1 degrees Celsius followed by Hirakud where the mercury stood at 41.5 degrees Celsius, the MeT office here said. Sambalpur recorded a maximum of 40.8 degrees Celsius, while it was 40.6 degrees Celsius in Malkangiri and Sonepur and 40.5 degrees Celsius in Balangir and Titlagarh, it said. The drop in temperature was experienced after rains and thundershowers occurred in some areas under the impact of a depression, while a nor’wester appeared to have acted as a coolant in some parts of the state. The state capital, Bhubaneswar, registered a maximum of 39.8 degrees Celsius while Cuttack recorded 38 degrees Celsius, it said. The MeT forecasts rains and thundershower at a few places in the next 24 hours, it added.