Severe heatwave conditions prevailed in eight districts of West Bengal on Sunday. Of these eight, two districts – North Dinajpur and Malda – are in North Bengal. The remaining six districts are East Midnapore, West Midnapore, Bankura, West Burdwan, East Burdwan, and Birbhum. The red alert for these districts is likely to continue till Thursday. Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued an orange alert for heatwave conditions for Kolkata along with North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Howrah, Hooghly, Purulia, Jhargram, Murshidabad and Nadia. However, the weather department added that severe heatwave (red alert) conditions may develop in Jhargram from Monday onwards. The IMD stated that no major change in day temperature was expected in West Bengal in the next five days. The weather department also released a report advising residents to “avoid prolonged heat exposure and outside work from 11 am to 4 pm…” Kalaikunda at 45.8 degree Celsius recorded the highest maximum temperature in the state on Sunday, followed by Panagarh at 44.6 degree Celsius. State capital Kolkata recorded a maximum temperature of 41.1 degree Celsius with the maximum humidity touching 92 per cent. Light rain was expected in East Midnapore, Purulia, Jhargram, West Midnapore, and Bankura on Sunday, said IMD officials.
