Titlagarh too hot to handle at 48.5°C

It’s 11 in the morning on a weekday and the streets of Titlagarh are empty. Not even a stray dog in sight.

This small town of 60,000 people in western Odisha’s Bolangir district is reeling under a heatwave with the mercury touching 48.5 degrees Celsius on Sunday, the highest April temperature ever recorded in the state.

Locally known as Tatlagarh or sizzling place, the town is among the country’s hottest places. It recorded 50.1°C on June 3, 2003.

But the past weekend has been terrible even by the town’s high standard as an unrelenting heatwave is scorching Odisha. The

TITLAGARH (ODISHA):

state has recorded 99 deaths so far from sunstroke-related ailments.

“You can say there is an undeclared curfew in Titlagarh after 10am. If you go out, you are either a very brave person or you are an outsider,” Congress member Upendra Bag said.

“Though summers are usually hot in Titlagarh, this time it feels like living in a furnace.”

People try to finish their chores by 10am, rush into their homes and venture out only after sundown.

Even airconditioners are giving up. “The airconditioning in our office is no match to the rising heat,” Titlagarh subcollector Kailash Sahu said.

Journalist Dilip Purohit deploys an array of remedies to avoid sunstrokes when out on assignments. “As soon as I leave bed at 5am, I sense the heat. By 9am it is unbearable and after 10am anyone out won’t be able to last long. Even when I go out, I tie a wet gamchha (towel) over my head and drink as much buttermilk and soft drinks as possible. The heat is blinding,” he said.

All meetings, social events and even weddings are scheduled after nightfall.

The standard food for the residents is “pakhala” — cooked rice normally soaked overnight in water —a popular dish known for its cooling properties.

The condition improved a little with the mercury dropping to 45.5 degrees Celsius on Tuesday.