BHUBANESWAR: On Saturday, intolerable sweltering conditions swept through coastal and interior parts of Odisha as mercury went on an upwardly mobile graph and 21 places of the State recorded temperatures of 40 degree C and above. Capital Bhubaneswar which recorded 41.7 degree Celsius, the season’s highest, sizzled on the day. The City’s all-time highest temperature for the month was recorded on April 11, 2016.
Coastal districts were hotter than the usually searing western plate. With the mercury on the rise, normal life was hit. People preferred to remain indoors while incidence of forest fire spiked across the State.Over 1,700-plus fire points were reported across the districts over the last week. Reeling under boiling conditions, Chandaka, the neighbourhood wildlife sanctuary of Bhubaneswar, reported fire over a 1 km area.The India Meteorological Department (IMD) pointed out that the entire coastal belt recorded a rise in maximum temperature due to weak coastal winds and lack of summer rains.
Director of Centre for Environment and Climate (CEC) at SOA University, Sarat Chandra Sahu, echoed similar views and said weakening of sea winds has led to a rise in maximum temperature in the coastal belt.“Interior Odisha had witnessed Norwester rains on April 21 night for which there was a dip in maximum temperature in the region. However, coastal region has been experiencing hot days as sea winds are unable to penetrate into the land due to a trough in the lower level of the atmosphere,” he added. As a result, daytime temperature increased over interior districts on Saturday and this will continue in the coming days.
What’s alarming, the worse is yet to come. An anti-cyclonic circulation is likely to form over northern Maharashtra, Gujarat and Rajasthan on April 29 and the system will pull dry and warm air from the desert region, said Assistant Professor of School of Earth, Ocean and Climate Sciences IIT-Bhubaneswar, Sandeep Pattnaik.
“The dry winds will blow towards northern and central India and this will lead to a rise is maximum temperature in parts of the country including Odisha. The State will witness intense heat between April 28 and May 3,” he added.A reason for the undeterred heat and sweltering condition is Odisha has also not witnessed adequate Norwester thundershowers this season. The State recorded 96 per cent rainfall deficit in March and 76 per cent between April 1 and 23.
“Odisha has not witnessed much Norwester rains activity this season. Lack of western disturbances is one of the reasons behind reduced thundershowers,” said Pattnaik.Meanwhile, the regional Met office predicted maximum temperature is likely to gradually rise by 3 degree Celsius to 5 degree at many places in interior districts.