Sunstroke toll climbs to 11 in Odisha

Bhubaneswar: Sunstroke toll rose to 11 in Odisha today even as rains brought respite from extreme heat today under the influence of low pressure over the Bay of Bengal and a nor'wester.

The death toll due to sunstroke, which stood at ten, climbed to 11 so far this summer with one more casualty reported from Sambalpur district, the office of the Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) said in a statement.

With this, four heat-related deaths have been reported from Sambalpur, while three deaths took place in Angul district, two in Bargarh and one each in Balangir and Bhadrak, it said.

The mercury breached the 40 degrees Celsius mark in only four places in the state, all in the western region.

Titlagarh was the hottest place in the state, recording 43 degrees Celsius, the MeT office here said.

Balangir town, which was hottest yesterday, recorded 42.5 degrees Celsius today while the mercury stood at 42.2 degrees Celsius in Bhawanipatna and 40 degrees Celsius in Hirakud, it said.

The drop in temperature was experienced after rains and thundershowers occurred in some areas, under the impact of a low pressure, while a nor'wester appeared to have acted as a coolant in some parts of the state.

The state capital, Bhubaneswar, registered a maximum of 37.8 degrees Celsius

while Cuttack recorded 36 degrees Celsius, it said.

The MeT forecasts rains and thundershower at few places in the next 24 hour, it added.