In a press statement, the state government said all schools, including those run by government, government-aided and private, will remain closed from April 25. The government has also announced morning classes from 6.30 am to 10.30 am in schools for three days from April 22 to April 24. Earlier, the state had ordered the closure of all schools in the state for three days from April 18 to 20 after a severe heatwave situation during which the temperature rose to above 45 degrees Celsius, in the state. The highest temperature recorded in the state's Jharsuguda and Keonjhar towns was 43.6 deg C, till 2:30 PM on Sunday. Six other places have recorded a maximum temperature above 40 deg C. They were Hirakud (41.8), Rourkela (41.8), Sambalpur (41.7), Bhubaneswar (41.6), Chandbali (41.6) and Balasore (40.5), IMD scientist Umashankar Das said.

Source-HT Photo