Bhubaneswar: More districts in Odisha have announced closure of school from Thursday to ensure safety of students amid the prevailing heatwave conditions.
The Sundargarh and Sambalpur administrations on Wednesday ordered the closure of all government and private schools from April 23 to April 27. Similarly, schools in Kendrapada and Koraput districts will also remain shut from April 23 to April 25.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), heatwave may prevail at isolated places in the districts of Balangir and Jharsuguda on April 22, and Balangir, Jharsuguda and Sambalpur on April 23. Meanwhile, hot and humid conditions may continue in Balangir, Sundergarh, Boudh, Sonepur, Sambalpur, Angul, Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapada, Cuttack, Jagatsingh
pur, Puri, Khurda, Nayagarh, Ganjam and Gajapati till April 29. Warm nights are expected at isolated places in Balangir and Kandhamal from April 24-26.
Amid the sultry spell, thunderstorm activity with wind speed of 30-40 kmph may also occur in the afternoon/evening hours in several parts of the state till April 26. Warning has been issued for Rayagada, Malkangiri, Koraput, Nabarangpur, Mayurbhanj, Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapada, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Puri, Khurda, Nayagarh, Ganjam and Gajapati on April 22 and Koraput and Malkangiri on April 23-24.
On April 25, thunderstorm accompanied by lightning and gusty surface wind (40-50 kmph) may occur in the afternoon/evening hours at one or two places in Ganjam, Gajapati and Rayagada. Similar warnings have been sounded for Ganjam, Gajapati and Rayagada the following day.
While there is no warning thereafter, light to moderate rain or thunderstorm may occur at one or two places in the districts of Sundargarh, Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Gajapati and Malkangiri during the subsequent two days.
The weather agency has also predicted a fall in the day temperature by 2-3°C after 4 days.