June 3rd 2024.
Over the past three days, the state of Odisha has been experiencing a severe heatwave, leading to the unfortunate deaths of 20 individuals due to sunstroke. According to an official statement, a total of 99 suspected sunstroke deaths were reported from various districts since Friday. After thorough investigations and post-mortems, 20 of these cases were confirmed as sunstroke deaths, while two were found to be caused by other reasons.
Authorities are currently conducting investigations into the remaining cases. This comes after previous reports of 42 suspected sunstroke deaths, of which six were confirmed to be caused by sunstroke and six were due to other causes, as stated in the statement. Most of these deaths occurred in districts like Bolangir, Sambalpur, Jharsuguda, Keonjhar, Subarnapur, Sundargarh, and Balasore.
In light of these unfortunate events, Chief Secretary Pradeep Kumar Jena and Special Relief Commissioner Satyabrata Sahu held a review meeting with district collectors on Sunday. They instructed the district administrations to follow the advisory on dealing with heatwaves and take necessary precautionary measures. It was also emphasized that post-mortem examinations must be carried out in every suspected sunstroke death in order to provide ex-gratia to the affected families.
Moreover, it was decided that a joint inquiry by the local revenue officer and the local medical officer would be conducted to determine the exact cause of each death. Keeping in mind the severity of the situation, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an 'orange' alert for Bargarh and Bolangir districts, stating that heatwave conditions are likely to persist until Tuesday morning. Additionally, a 'yellow' alert has been issued for Kalahandi, Nuapada, and Subarnapur districts.
The IMD has also predicted hot and humid weather in other districts like Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapara, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Puri, Khurda, Nayagarh, Ganjam, and Gajapati. However, the coastal regions of the state received heavy rainfall on Monday night, providing some relief from the scorching heat.
The authorities are urging the public to take necessary precautions during this heatwave, and have assured that all necessary measures are being taken to ensure the safety of the people. Let us all stay vigilant and take care of ourselves and those around us during these challenging times.
[This article has been trending online recently and has been generated with AI. Your feed is customized.]
[Generative AI is experimental.]
