Express News Service By

Normal life has virtually come to a grinding halt in the last three days with mercury in the district rising above 40 degrees Celsius. People in the town and surrounding villages were forced to stay indoors due to intense heat wave conditions on Friday as temperature hovered around 40 to 42 degrees Celsius.

All business establishments downed their shutters during the day and the roads wore a deserted look.

Santosh Sahoo, a studio owner said, “I felt uneasy during the day because of the scorching heat and high humidity.”

The evenings are equally unpleasant because of the blowing of hot winds for the last few days. People find it difficult to commute on two-wheelers during day time due to the heat and those who move outside cover their faces with handkerchiefs, scarves and wear caps. Traffic movement in the town has come down drastically on Cuttack-Jagatsinghpur and Cuttack-Paradip State highways owing to heat wave condition.

Similarly, the Port city Paradip is also experiencing severe heat wave condition with the increase in temperature. Most of the people remained indoors and business in the port slugged on Friday. Vehicular movement on Chandikhol-Paradeep express highway was thin during the day time as the temperature reached 38 degrees Celsius on Friday, which is quite high compared to previous years.

Meanwhile, residents blamed the intense condition on rampant depletion of forest and green cover in coastal areas and large scale destruction of mangrove forests in Erasama, Balikuda and Kujanga blocks. Sources said about three lakh trees were felled at Nuagaon and Gadakujanga panchayats under the proposed Posco site during administration sponsored land acquisition for Posco project last year.

Collector Satya Kumar Mallick said, “keeping in view the soaring temperature, notices have been issued to stop all labourious activities from 11 am to 3 pm and people asked to avoid going outside in day time. The district health department has made elaborate arrangements for providing round the clock health services to heat wave affected people. Besides, the district administration has taken several measures to combat the prevailing heat wave conditions.”