Sonepur sizzles at 46.5 deg C, heat claims 8 lives in Odisha

Eight people have died due to severe heatwave in Odisha with Sonepur recording a maximum temperature of 46.5 degrees Celsius today making it the hottest place in the state.

The entire western Odisha continued to sizzle under gruelling heat as the mercury touched 46.5 deg C in Sonepur, which was followed by 46 deg C in Bolangir in the region, according to the Meteorological Centre here.

However, in Titlagarh, which had recorded 48.5 deg C on Sunday, the temperature dropped to 45.5 deg C, while Bhawanipatna recorded a maximum temperature of 45.2 deg C followed by 45 deg C in Sambalpur, it said.

The mercury stood at 44.6 deg C in Hirakud and 44.5 deg C in Jharsuguda.

As the coastal belt experienced slight respite from the searing heat following light rainfall in a couple of places, the state capital Bhubaneswar recorded 38.9 deg C, down from 39.2 deg C recorded yesterday.

Similarly, the maximum temperature stood at 36.6 deg C in Cuttack and 36.2 deg C in Balasore, the MeT office said.

It said there was no major change in temperatures in the state and they remained appreciably above normal over interior Odisha.

Heatwave condition was likely to prevail at a few places over interior Odisha for the next 48 hours, it said adding thunder squall accompanied by hail and gusty surface wind was likely to occur at one or two places over coastal Odisha and districts of Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Dhenkanal, Angul, Jajpur, Kandhamal and Nayagarh in the next 24 hours.

Meanwhile, a report from the Special Relief Commissioner’s office said the number of alleged sunstroke death cases has increased to 109 and confirmed cases climbed to eight.

While three persons died of heat related incidents in Angul district, two persons died in Dhenkanal and one person each succumbed to sunstroke in Bolangir, Balasore and Jajpur districts, the SRC officials said.