Orissa sizzles as mercury crosses 46 degrees

Bhubaneswar, June 1 (IANS) Many parts of Orissa Tuesday continued to sizzle under the heat wave conditions with Sambalpur town recording the day’s maximum temperature of 46.4 degree Celsius, the weatherman said.

Sambalpur town is 317 km from Bhubaneswar.

The other places which recorded above average temperatures were Hirakud (45.1), Titilagarh, Bhabanipatna and Sundergarh (44.5), Bolangir (43.4) and Jharsuguda (44.0), an official of the Bhubaneswar meteorological centre told IANS.

State capital Bhubaneswar, its nearby Cuttack town and the coastal belt, however, remained relatively cool.

The maximum temperatures recorded at Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Puri, Gopalpur, Balasore and Paradip were 36.9, 37.1, 33.2, 32.8, 35.5 and 33.7 degrees Celsius respectively, he said.

The heat wave conditions would prevail over some parts of the state during the next 48 hours although rain and thunder showers would occur at isolated places, the official said.

The state government has confirmed 36 deaths due to heatstroke since March.