Odisha continued to be under the grip of a sweltering heat wave on Monday, prompting the state government to suspend classes of all schools for five days from Tuesday. Several districts bore the brunt of the blistering heat, including Cuttack, Khurda, Angul, Subarnapur, Boudh and Nayagarh districts, the Met office said.

The maximum temperature rose by 1-3 degrees Celsius at several places, while the minimum temperature was also higher than normal in some areas, it said. A notification issued by the School and Mass Education Department said though classes will remain suspended for five days, examinations conducted by the Board of Secondary Education and the Council of Higher Secondary Education would be held as per schedule.

The directive applies to government, state-aided and privately-managed Odia and English-medium schools across the state. The state government had earlier said the duration of summer vacation will be reduced to 10 days from 50 days in order to help students make up for lost classes due to closure of schools amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Met department said eight weather stations recorded a temperature of 43 degrees Celsius or more, with Bolangir sizzling at 44 degrees Celsius. The maximum temperature in state capital Bhubaneswar was 40.8 degrees Celsius. Temperatures are likely to settle above 40 degrees Celsius at many places across the state during the next four-five days, the Bhubaneswar Meteorological Centre said.

It also issued a heat wave alert for some places in Subarnapur, Boudh and Bolangir districts of western Odisha for the next four days. A heat wave occurs when the maximum temperature is 4.5-6.4 notches above normal and at least 40 degrees Celsius in the plains, or 37 degrees Celsius in the coastal areas.

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