Odisha’s Talcher Boils Under 43 Degree Celsius, Govt Declares Closure of Schools for 3 Days

Bhubaneswar: As Odisha continues to boil under a singing heatwave for a week now, the Odisha government on Wednesday announced closures of school for the three days, beginning from Thursday.

As per a government notification, the schools in Odisha will remain closed for a period of three days till April 20, 2024.

Earlier, a lot of guardians were also demanding closure of schools as it was affecting the children to return home in scorching heat and humid conditions after the school hours.

"Though morning classes are being conducted till 10:30 am, it is hard to return home as already the state is experiencing intense heatwave conditions since morning hours," said a guardian.

Odisha is witnessing an intense spell of heatwave conditions which has adversely affected normal life.

On Wednesday, coal mining region Talcher recorded the state’s highest temperature of 43.2 degree Celsius followed by Boudh and Paralakhemundi (42.8 degree Celsius). State capital Bhubaneswar recorded 41.7 degree Celsius. Many other cities and towns also recorded over 41 degree Celsius temperature.

Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) regional office, Bhubaneswar, predicted that the second heatwave spell of April over Odisha is likely to continue for the next five days.

As per IMD, heat wave conditions are likely in some pockets of Odisha, Gangetic West Bengal and Jharkhand from April 17 to April 21, 2024. Similarly, severe heat wave conditions are also likely in isolated pockets of Saurashtra on April 17, Odisha during April 18 and 19 and Gangetic West Bengal from April 19 to April 21.

A fresh western disturbance as a cyclonic circulation lies over Iran and the neighbourhood in middle and upper tropospheric levels which is likely to affect Northwest India from April 18, 2024.