Summer vacation in Odisha will begin from Friday, April 21 (Representational image)
All government, private and aided schools in Odisha will now begin their summer vacations from Friday, April 21 instead of May 5 as originally planned.
India is currently battling a severe heat wave. Amid rising temperatures, the Odisha government on Thursday announced an advance of summer vacations in schools. As per the latest updates, the summer vacation in Odisha will begin from Friday, April 21.
Confirming the development on Instagram, VK Pandian, private secretary to Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, wrote, “In view of the prevailing summer situation, Hon’ble Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has declared summer vacation for all schools for classes up to class 12th.” (Government , private and aided) from yesterday (April 21). The concerned departments will fix the date of reopening in due course. Detailed press release soon.”
The summer vacations of all government, private and aided schools in Odisha were earlier scheduled to begin from May 5.
Odisha is currently reeling under widespread heat wave conditions with temperatures above 40 degree Celsius in most parts of the state. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Bhubaneswar recorded a day maximum temperature of 42.7 degrees Celsius till 6:30 pm on Tuesday, April 18. Baripada and Jharsuguda recorded the highest maximum temperature in the state. Nuapada (44.4 degrees), Bolangir (44 degrees), Boudh (43.9 degrees) and Talcher (43.8 degrees) rank on the list. Cuttack and Bhubaneswar recorded maximum temperatures of 42.5 and 42.2 degrees Celsius, respectively.
Earlier, the Odisha government had issued a notification to keep schools closed till April 16 due to heat wave. Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik assured residents that there would be steady supply of drinking water along with power supply to meet the high demand during summer.
Schools reopened on April 17 with revised timings. However, the government issued another notification saying that schools in the state will function from 6:30 am to 11 am. The students were also advised to take precautions including adequate intake of glucose and ORS solution for extreme weather.
Odisha is not the only state to shut schools in view of rising temperatures. The state governments of West Bengal, Tripura and Meghalaya have also called for closure of schools due to inclement weather. States like Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Bihar had amended the school timings.
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