Bhubaneswar: Normal life was thrown out of gear in most parts of Odisha as mercury shot up to 40 degree Celsius and above at 15 places.
While Bhubaneswar and Baripada were the hottest places at 42.2 degree Celsius each, the mercury crossed 40 degrees mark in Balasore (41.2), Chandbali (41.7), Cuttack (40.6), Paradip (40.1), Angul (41.9), Jharsuguda (40.1), Sambalpur (40.2), Hirakud (40.1), Talcher (42), Bolangir (40.8), Titilagarh (41.5), Sonepur (40.2) and Dhenkanal (40.5), said a Met release.
In Odisha capital, most trading establishments downed their shutters before noon as the temperature rose sharply after 9 am. Even the busy thoroughfares wore a deserted look.
Barring few vehicles, people moving in two-wheelers were seen putting wet hankies on their heads to escape from the scorching sun.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted that the heatwave condition would prevail for five more days till June 23.
It may be recalled that despite the onset of monsoon, similar conditions had prevailed in 1973 when the temperature went up to 41.2 degree Celsius on June 20 and 24, 40.6 degrees on June 26 in 2004, 44.6 on June 22 and 23 in 2009 and 42.4 on June 28 in 2014.
According to Dr Sarat Chandra Sahu, former director of Meteorological Centre, Bhubaneswar, the rise in temperature mainly due to the blowing of the northwesterly or westerly wind from north-northwest part of India through the huge dry land mass of northwest and central India.
“As the horizontal movement of air gradually absorb heat from the surface over Central India and reaches the coastal region, it becomes hotter,” he added.
He further said that a sudden rise of temperature may be due to the transportation of black or brown carbon by strong westerly/northwesterly wind through the northwest including Delhi region where severe pollution is noticed. “Black carbon absorbs solar radiation and causes a rise in the temperature as aerosol particles are available plentifully over Eastern India,” he pointed out.
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