By IANS,
Bhubaneswar : With temperatures hovering around a sweltering 40 degrees Celsius for several days, Orissa Friday rescheduled the working hours of daily wage labourers who are usually the worst affected by the heat.
“We have asked all private and government concerns not to engage daily wage earners and labourers during the middle of the day when the heat is at its peak,” labour secretary Jagar Singh told IANS.
“We have asked them not to engage workers between 11.30 a.m. and 3.30 p.m. with immediate effect,” he said. “The restriction will be effective till June 15.”
The state government had Thursday ordered private and government-run educational institutions to reschedule classes to avoid the peak heat hours, an official of the school and mass education department said.
They have been asked to conduct classes from 6.30 a.m. to 10.30 a.m, he said, adding that school heads have been told to make arrangements for drinking water in the schools.
State capital Bhubaneswar witnessed a maximum of Celsius and 38.5 degrees Celsius, 38.5 degrees Celsius, and 40.4 degree Celsius Friday, Thursday and Wednesday respectively.
On Friday, the highest of temperature of the day – at 40.1 degrees – was recorded in the industrial town of Talcher in Angul district, some 140 km from here.
A heat wave in Orissa in May 1998 had killed over 2,000 people