Rare Incident in Western Odisha: 41 Lives Lost in a Day Due to Severe Heatwave
A rare incident occurred in Western Odisha yesterday, where 41 lives were lost due to heatstroke (extreme heat). Among them, at least 17 people died in Sundargarh district alone. As of 10:00 pm on Thursday, 12 people had died in Rourkela Government Hospital (RGH), 4 in Sundergarh District General Hospital, and one in Bandhamunda Railway Hospital. Of them, 12 people died in the steel city alone, between 1:30 and 8:30 pm. Similarly, 8 people died in Sambalpur yesterday, 6 in Balangir, 7 in Jharsuguda, and three in other places.
According to information, one person died in Naktideul and one person in the Kalibadi area of Sambalpur district. Similarly, 4 more people died unnaturally, as they were brought to the medical center due to sickness, and all were declared dead there. Ram (72), a truck driver and owner of Hirakud Gujatal, died near the Kuchinda Thana Junani area.
Ramchandra Gadtia of Ranipali under Balangir Sadar Block, Jitendra Tiwari of Aurangabad who worked at Shikachida Distillery (alcohol factory) died. Padmavathi Bariha of Gerda village in Patnagarh block of the district, a mentally challenged person in Titilagarh, and A Shivam (58) of Rangampalayam village in Salem district of Tamil Nadu, a truck driver (TN 52C-5474) going from Visakhapatna to Raipur, died.
Prasanna Babu (46 years) of Kamira village under Binika police station of Subarnapur district died due to heatstroke. The deceased Prasanna was working as a cook at Umabishnu Rice Mill in Bishalpali. After returning from the rice mill on Wednesday evening, he felt ill and rested. On Thursday morning at 7 o’clock, he was cycling to work at the rice mill as usual when he fell off his cycle near the Jampali grid. Rice mill workers reached the spot and took Prasanna to Binika Hospital for treatment, where doctors declared him dead.
Bhagirathi Bagarti (73 years old) of Rampur Paikapada, Kalahandi district, died of heatstroke. On Thursday, the Bhagirathi went to the nearby forest to fetch bamboo. While cutting bamboo and bringing it home, he fell on the way. He was brought to the health center, where the doctor declared him dead. Jainek youth Subal Behera (32) collapsed while working as a hawker in the market of Bargarh city. It was said on behalf of the family that he died due to the sunstroke.
Similarly, in Jharsuguda district, 7 people were reported to have died of heatstroke on Thursday. Indrajit Singh (50), a truck driver from UP, and Dilip Jadav (37), a truck driver who was returning from Raigarh after unloading coal, died near Baghmunda under Lakhanpur police station. Truck driver Sikander Tudu (46) of Jharkhand and another truck driver Parameshwar Kumar of Gaya died at Belpahad Police Station Shuk Patnaik Chowk. Ayub Khan (57) from Jharkhand was critical while parking on the Biju Expressway under Badmal police station. He died under treatment at the district head hospital. Similarly, while a truck was parked near Sarabahal Meghna Bidi warehouse, its driver, Rudradev Pandey, was rescued in critical condition. He died at around 10 pm. In another incident, a youth died while sleeping under a tree in Sunari Munda. Various truck owners’ associations have stopped around 2,000 vehicles in the Jharsuguda district’s coalfields. However, no facilities have been provided for the truck drivers there, which is being discussed as the main cause of death of these truck drivers.
