By IANS,
Bhubaneswar : Odisha Tuesday confirmed four more deaths due to sunstroke taking the toll of heat-related casualties this summer in the state to 36, with temperatures crossing over 42 degrees Celsius at many places.
The latest deaths have been reported from Sundergarh, Balasore, Jagatsinghpur and Subarnapur districts, an official of the state disaster management department told IANS.
Meanwhile, the heat wave continued to grip several parts of the state although a few places got a slight respite due to sporadic rain and thundershower, the local weather office said in a bulletin.
The district headquarters town of Sambalpur, about 320 km from here, Tuesday recorded a temperature of 44.6 degrees Celsius, the day’s highest in the state, it said. The other places which recorded high temperature include Jharsuguda 44 degrees Celsius, Sundergarh 43.5 degrees and Titilagarh 42.5 degrees.
The state capital Bhubaneswar and its adjoining Cuttack city, however, remained slightly cool recording maximum temperatures of 39.3 and 39 degrees Celsius, respectively, the weather office added.
Bhubaneswar had recorded 46.7 degree Celsius June 5, beating the previous record of highest temperature of 46.5 degrees May 22, 1972.
The heat wave condition would continue to prevail in some parts of the state during at least next one day, the weather office said.