Heatwave continues to grip state, two dead

One person each died of sunstroke in Angul and Bolangir districts, an official at the Special Relief Commissioner`s (SRC) office here said.

The state government received 41 complaints, including seven from Jagatsinghpur district, of heat-related deaths recently.

"Of the 23 complaints examined so far, two were found to be sunstroke deaths. Twenty one other deaths were not related to heat," the official said.

While Bhubaneswar recorded maximum of 41.4 degree C with relative humidity ratio at 94 per cent, western Odisha town of Titlagarh reeled under 46.5 degree C temperature, followed by 46 degree C at Sambalpur.

Other districts which recorded maximum temperature above 40 degree C are Subarnapur (45.4), Malkangiri (42.8), Kandhamal (42.2), Bolangir (44.4), Bhawanipatna (44.5), Sundergarh (44), Keonjhar (43), Jharsuguda (44), Mayrubhanj (40.1) and Angul (44.7).

The situation turned worse for the people due to frequent power cuts. "We have been facing a shortage of about 500 MW during peak hours due to less generation of hydro power," said Energy Minister Atanu S Nayak.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik asked the officials to repair all defunct tube wells in view of the prevailing heatwave condition.