Mercury drops in Odisha; MeT office predicts rains

Drop in the mercury level in most parts of Odisha today gave people the much-needed respite from the searing summer heat.
The MeT office has predicted light rains and thundershowers at one or two places in south Odisha, besides Angul, Dhenkanal and Keonjhar districts in the next 24 hours.
There will be strong and gusty surface winds along coastal Odisha, it said.
Sonepur in western Odisha was the hottest place during the day at 43.3 degrees Celsius though it was down from 44.6 degrees C recorded yesterday. Titlagarh town in Balangir district was the hottest place in the state yesterday at 45.4 degree C, it said.

Today Balangir town as well as Titlagarh recorded 43 degrees C, followed by 42.9 degrees C at Sambalpur, 42.5 degrees C at Sundargarh, 42.1 degrees C at Hirakud and 42 degrees C at Bhawanipatna, the weatherman said.
Western Odisha which had been sizzling under temperatures above 45 degrees C in the past few days.

The industrial town of Angul recorded 41.1 degrees C and Jharsuguda 41 degrees C.
The coastal belt too experienced fall in temperatures. The temperature in Bhubaneswar was recorded at 39.6 degrees C compared to 39.9 degrees C recorded yesterday, the MeT office said.
Death toll due to sun-stroke in the state remained at 21 though the Special Relief Commissioner's (SRC) office received reports of 115 deaths allegedly due to heat.

Reports of the deaths reaching the SRC office are under investigation, a statement by its office said.