Prolonged rainfall triggered by low pressure provided the much needed respite from scorching heat for the second day today across Odisha, where sunstroke has claimed 17 lives this summer.
The mercury remained below the 40 degree Celsius mark across the state during the day barring two places in western Odisha. Balangir and Titlagarh recorded maximum temperature of 41 degree Celsius and 40.5 degrees respectively, the Met office said.
As the state had virtually turned a cauldron during the peak of summer, the 40 degree mark had been breached daily at many places during peak summer.
Bhubaneswar, which had recorded 38 degree Celsius yesterday, saw the mercury fall to 34 degree celsius today. The temperature in Cuttack also dropped to 33 degree ccelsius from yesterday's 36 degree elsius, according to the Met department here.
While heavy rainfall is likely to pound several areas of Odisha in the next 24 hours under the impact of the low pressure over Bay of Bengal, arrival of monsoon in the state is likely to be delayed by two to three days due to current low rainfall elsewhere in the country, it said.
Of the 17 heat related deaths reported in the state so far this summer - four each were in Sambalpur and Angul, three each in Bargarh and Sundargarh districts and one each in Balangir, Bhadrak and Dhenkanal, according to the office of the Special Relief Commissioner (SRC).
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