Bhubaneswar: The prevailing severe heatwave condition has claimed nine lives in the State so far while investigation into 81 more alleged heat-related death cases are being investigated, according to the report of the office of Special Relief Commissioner (SRC).
The government so far has received 96 alleged sunstroke deaths during the current summer season, of which 54 were reported from seven districts during the last 48 hours.
Out of 54 alleged heatstroke death cases, 20 were reported from Bolangir district, 15 from Sambalpur, six from Jharsuguda, four from Keonjhar, six from Sonepur, two from Sundargarh and another from Balasore.
During the investigation, the Government has also found that six deaths were not due to sunstroke. Joint investigation is underway for the remaining 81 death cases, it said.
Chief Secretary Pradeep Kumar Jena and SRC Satyabrata Sahu today held a heatwave review meeting with all collectors except Mayurbhanj, Balasore, Bhadrak, Kendrapara, Jajpur, Jagatsinghpur, Puri and Cuttack.
The Collectors have been instructed to ensure the implementation of heat wave advisories and precautionary measures issued by the SRC.
The Collectors were further asked to ensure post mortem of suspected sun stroke death cases for sanction of ex-gratia. This apart, joint inquiry by the local revenue officer and the local medical officer is needed to be conducted to ascertain the exact cause of the death. The situation is being monitored round the clock by the office of the SRC, they said.
Severe heatwave continued to grip many parts of the state on Saturday with mercury shut up to 46 degrees Celsius at Titlagarh. It was followed by Bargarh (45.8 degrees), Bolangir (45.5), Bhawanipatna (44.6), and Nuapada (44). Apart from these places, another seven places of the State recorded a day temperature of 40 degrees Celsius or above during the day.