Heatwave: Odisha extends summer vacation in schools till June 23

, June 16:

on Monday announced an extension of the

in schools by five days in view of an unabated heat wave sweeping the state that has so far claimed 26 lives.

All schools in the state, including private and government, have been directed to open June 23 instead of June 18 in view of the heat wave conditions, Special Relief Commissioner P.K Mohapatra told IANS.

Although the mercury which hovered around 44 degrees Celsius in several places during past weeks has come down, it still remained high in many places.

It hovered around 40 degrees Celsius and higher in several places with the three towns of Sambalpur, Sundergarth and Titilagarh recording 41 degrees Celsius Sunday, the day's highest temperature in the state.

Several other places too witnessed high temperature of around 40 degrees Celsius. The death toll due to sunstroke in the state now stands at 26, an official of the state disaster management department told IANS.

IANS