Sunstroke-related deaths rise by 10 in state, govt confirms only three

Bhubaneswar: State government has received allegations of ten more heatwave-related deaths across Odisha in the last one week, taking the total number of death allegations this season to 26. However, the government has so far confirmed only three deaths due to sunstroke, according to the latest situation report issued by the Special Relief Commissioner’s (SRC) office on Thursday.Earlier, on May 22, the SRC office had confirmed three sunstroke deaths out of 16 allegations reported till then. Those confirmed cases were from Balangir, Subarnapur and Sundargarh districts. The latest report does not add any new confirmed sunstroke deaths.The SRC report also noted that six cases have been negated by the concerned District Emergency Operation Centres (DEOCs) after post-mortem reports were received, indicating that those deaths were not caused by heatwave conditions.Apart from heat-related incidents, the SRC confirmed two lightning deaths during May—one in Mayurbhanj district and another in Keonjhar district. The report also confirmed one death in Athamalik tehsil of Angul district due to Kalabaisakhi (nor’wester) on Wednesday.Weather conditions remained severe in many parts of the state. On Thursday, 12 locations recorded temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius. The SRC warned that heatwave conditions are very likely to prevail at isolated places in Sambalpur, Boudh, Nuapada, Bolangir, Sonepur and Kalahandi districts. Warm night conditions are also likely at isolated places in Balangir and Sambalpur.Hot and humid conditions are expected at isolated places in Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghapur, Cuttack, Sonepur, Gajapati, Ganjam, Puri, Khurda and Nayagarh.The report further stated that light to moderate rain or thunderstorms are very likely at one or two places across 24 districts, while dry weather may continue in the remaining districts. Thunderstorms and gusty surface winds are expected to bring some relief by reducing temperatures in several areas.