BHUBANESWAR: With India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicting severe cold wave conditions in Odisha for the next two to three days, the State government on Tuesday, December 21, 2021, asked the district collectors to launch a public awareness campaign with dos and dont’s to protect people from the extreme conditions.
The officials have been asked to prevent movement of vehicles particularly two-wheelers during night while ensuring school, community and other available buildings are opened for use as shelter during night by homeless and the needy.
Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) PK Jena said a report indicating the number of such buildings used as night shelter and the number of people sheltered should be submitted to his office on a daily basis till the cold wave subsides.
The IMD forecast for Odisha on Tuesday said there will be no change in minimum night temperature during the next three days and it will gradually rise by two to three degree Celsius thereafter in the districts. Minimum temperature will be below normal by 5 degree Celsius to 6 degree Celsius in interior Odisha and by 4 degree Celsius to 5 degree Celsius over other places during the next three days.
The IMD issued orange warning for Sundargarh, Jharsuguda, Mayurbhanj, Kalahandi, Bolangir, Sonepur and Boudh districts in the next 24 hours during which isolated cold wave to very severe cold wave conditions will prevail. This apart, yellow warning has been issued for majority of other districts.
Meanwhile, mercury dropped below 10 degree Celsius in at least 19 places of the State. IMD officials said 12 of these places recorded temperature below 9 degree Celsius.
Collectors asked to ready shelters
Daringbadi recorded season’s lowest temperature of 3.5 degree Celsius followed by 4 degree Celsius in Phulbani. The bone-chilling cold also affected places like Baripada, Boudh, Jharsuguda, Sundargarh and Bhawanipatna where the lowest minimum temperature hovered between 6 to 7 degree Celsius. State Capital Bhubaneswar recorded 10 degree Celsius while Cuttack recorded 10.1 degree Celsius.
IMD officials said with the day’s lowest temperature of 10 degree Celsius, the Capital city recorded its third lowest minimum temperature in the month of December in last one decade between 2011 and 2021. Earlier the city had recorded temperature of 9.8 degree Celsius on December 31, 2019 and 8.2 degree Celsius on December 30, 2018.
Chill in the air