BHUBANESWAR: The heawave toll rose alarmingly in Odisha where 54 people are suspected to have lost their lives due to sunstroke in the last 48 hours. Balangir with 20 alleged deaths topped the chart.
Between March 1 and June 1, the state received reports of a total of 96 suspected heatstroke deaths.
The office of Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) said 81 cases are pending investigation at various districts. It also ascertained that six deaths during the period were not caused due to sunstroke while, nine deaths have been confirmed to have been caused by sunstroke.
As per the SRC office, Balangir reported 20 suspected heatstroke deaths, the maximum across Odisha in the last two days, followed by 15 in Sambalpur, six each in Jharsuguda and Sonepur, four in Keonjhar, two in Sundargarh and one in Balasore.
On Saturday, Chief Secretary Pradeep Kumar Jena and SRC Satyabrata Sahu took stock of the situation with all collectors except of Mayurbhanj, Balasore, Bhadrak, Kendrapara, Jajpur, Jagatsinghpur, Puri and Cuttack as polling took place in these districts in the fourth and last phase on Saturday. The collectors were instructed to ensure implementation of heatwave advisories and precautionary measures issued by the SRC’s office.
Postmortem is a mandatory document to sanction ex gratia assistance to the kin of the heatstroke victims. Besides this, joint inquiry by local revenue and medical officers must be conducted to ascertain the exact cause of the death, said the SRC office. The situation is being monitored round the clock, it added.
Experts said soaring temperatures could not possibly be the only reason behind the suspected heatstroke deaths. “People are possibly ignoring the advisory of avoiding work outside between 11 am and 3 pm. Those with any kind of comorbidities are at high risk if they venture outside during the peak hours,” said an expert.
Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast heatwave condition in western districts of Bargarh, Sambalpur, Sonepur, Balangir and Nuapada on Sunday. Though there is no heatwave warning from Monday onwards, but parts of the state will experience hot and humid weather for three days starting next week.
On the day, Titlagarh was the hottest at 46 degree Celsius followed by Bargarh at 45.8 degrees and Balangir at 45.5 degree. The twin city of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack recorded 36.7 degree and 35.6 degree Celsius respectively on the day.
