Twenty people have died due to sunstroke in Odisha over the last three days, according to an official statement released amid intense heatwave conditions in the state. The statement confirmed that since Friday, a total of 99 suspected sunstroke deaths were reported across different districts. After post-mortem and inquiry, 20 of these deaths were confirmed to be due to sunstroke, while two deaths were attributed to other causes.

An investigation is currently underway to determine the cause of death in the remaining cases, the statement added. Prior to this, 42 suspected sunstroke deaths were reported, of which six cases were confirmed as sunstroke deaths, and another six were found to be due to other causes, the statement said.

Officials reported that most of the deaths occurred in Bolangir, Sambalpur, Jharsuguda, Keonjhar, Sonepur, Sundergarh, and Balasore districts.

Chief Secretary Pradeep Kumar Jena and Special Relief Commissioner Satyabrata Sahu reviewed the situation with district collectors on Sunday. They instructed the district administrations to implement heatwave advisories and take precautionary measures. The districts were also directed to ensure that post-mortem examinations are conducted for every suspected sunstroke death to facilitate the sanction of ex-gratia.

Further, officials stated that a joint inquiry by the local revenue officer and the local medical officer must be conducted to determine the exact cause of each death.

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