Heat Wave: Summer Vacation in State Extended Till June 23

BHUBANESWAR: A prolonged heat wave, abetted by a slow moving monsoon, has prompted the Odisha Government to extend the summer vacation of educational institutions in the State. All the schools and colleges will now re-open on June 23, instead of June 17.

The Special Relief Commissioner (SRC)’s office on Monday declared the extension of the vacation after reviewing the projections of onset of monsoon in the State. The Higher Education and School and Mass Education departments have been asked to issue notifications in this regard.

With the south west monsoon already late by a week, heat wave conditions have persisted. Though sporadic rainfall has been reported from northern parts of the State, according to India Meteorological Department (IMD), day temperature has remained two to five degrees above normal at many places over Odisha in the last 24 hours.

So far, the official sunstroke death toll in the State stands at 27 out of 124 cases reported since March.

However, the weather office on Monday said the monsoon has advanced and conditions are favourable for its further progress into interior Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, most parts of the Bay of Bengal, sub-Himalayan and Gangetic West Bengal, Odisha, Jharkhand and Bihar over the next three days.

The northern limit of the monsoon currently passes through Veraval, Surat, Sangli, Bellary, Nandyal, Bapatla, Coochbehar and Gangtok.

The Agro Meteorology Department of Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT) has, however, predicted the onset of south west monsoon by the fourth week of this month. Although a cyclonic circulation is likely to trigger showers by June 18/19, the rainfall will not be uniform and unlikely to satisfy the monsoon arrival protocol, it said, adding that widespread showers could start only by June 23 and continue thereafter.