Odisha government has decided to close all the schools in the state till April 20.
Bhubaneswar: Due to the intense heatwave conditions in the state, the Odisha government has announced school closures for three days on Wednesday, from April 18 to 20. As per a notification issued by the I&PR department, the schools in Odisha will remain closed for a period of three days until April 20, 2024.
In a press statement released by the School and Mass Education Department, it was announced that the government has decided to shut down all schools, including those run by the government, government-aided and private, for three days amid the IMD warning of a heatwave and a rise in day temperature.
IMD Issues Heatwave Warning For Odisha
Heat wave conditions are expected in isolated pockets of Odisha and Gangetic West Bengal during April 16–20; north Konkan, Saurashtra and Kutch during Tuesday–Wednesday; coastal Andhra Pradesh and Yanam on Wednesday–Thursday; and Telangana during Tuesday–Thursday. Besides, the weather bureau updated that hot and humid weather is very likely to prevail over Gangetic
West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Karaikal, and Rayalaseema from Tuesday-Saturday; Coastal Karnataka, Kerala and Mahe on Tuesday-Wednesday; coastal areas of Gujarat from Tuesday-Thursday; Konkan and Goa on Thursday-Saturday. The warm night is very likely to prevail over Madhya Maharashtra during Tuesday-Thursday and over Odisha during Wednesday-Saturday.
In the first spell of the heat wave, heat wave conditions prevailed over parts of eastern and peninsular India in early April.
Regions that experienced heat waves in the first spell were Odisha, Gangetic West Bengal, Jharkhand, Vidarbha, North Interior Karnataka, Coastal Andhra Pradesh, Yanam, Rayalaseema and Telangana.
A heatwave is a condition of air temperature that becomes fatal to the human body when exposed. It is defined based on the temperature thresholds over a region in terms of the actual temperature or its departure from normal.
In certain countries, it is defined in terms of the heat index based on temperature and humidity or based on the extreme percentile of the temperatures.
A heat wave is considered if the maximum temperature of a station reaches at least 40 degrees Celsius or more for plains and at least 30 degrees Celsius or more for hilly regions. IMD advised people to avoid heat exposure, wear lightweight, light-colored, loose cotton clothes, cover their heads, and use a cloth, hat or umbrella.
(With inputs from agencies)