Odisha SRC Asks Health Dept to be Prepared as Heatwave Returns, Temp Above 40°C in 5 Places at 11.30 AM

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) Satyabrata Sahu through a letter asked the state Health and Family Welfare Department to initiate precautionary measures to meet the prevailing heatwave conditions.

He his letter to the Secretary-cum-Commissioner of the Health and Family Welfare Department, he requested the Health Department to review the stock of supplies of medicines and other medical items at the CHC/PHC/Sub Divisional and District Headquarters Hospitals (DHHs).

Sahu wrote, “Due to prevailing dry conditions across the state and the strengthening of north-westerly dry winds in the middle and upper levels of atmosphere, the maximum temperature (day temperature) is likely to be 40°C or more in places in the districts of interior Odisha and the maximum temperature is likely to be above normal by 2°C to 3°C in a few districts in coastal Odisha. The weather conditions will likely be hot and humid over coastal Odisha this week. It is, therefore, requested that the CHC/PHC/Sub Divisional and District Headquarters Hospitals’ basic health facilities be reviewed to tackle heat-related problems. Doctors and health workers at the grassroots level may be sensitized properly.”

Heatwave condition has returned to Odisha as by 11.30 pm, five places in the state showed 40°C and above. Jharsuguda was the hottest at 42.8°C, while Sambalpur was at 42.2°C, Hirakud experienced 42°C, Rourkela 40.8°C, and Keonjhar 40.5°C. It was 38.8°C in Bhubaneswar.

The IMD has forecast hot and humid weather condition at one or two places in Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapada, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Puri, Khurda, Nayagarh, Ganjam, and Gajapati districts till May 30. Heatwave may also prevail in Sundargarh, Jharsuguda, Balangir, Sambalpur, and Nuapada districts on May 29-30.