Bhubaneswar, June 14: Residents of the capital will have to bear the hot spell for some more time as the first showers of the monsoon are not likely to hit the state in the four to five days.

But the good news is that the meteorological office here has said that conditions are gradually becoming favourable for the onset of monsoon in the state.

Director of Regional Meteorological Centre, Bhubaneswar, Sarat Chandra Sahu, said: “It might take another four to five days for the monsoon to hit the state. Every year, the state receives monsoon rain from June 10 to June 18. This year, too, it is likely to reach at about that time.”

The one consolation for the city is that the Celsius has dipped by over 4 degrees in the last few days. But the humidity level remained at 69 per cent.

Such high humidity levels have made life difficult for residents of the capital and caused more discomfort than the Celsius.

“It has been nearly one month since we have been suffering from such extreme heat and humidity. This kind of weather saps one of all the energy. Even if we step out for a while, it feels like we have lost all strength in the body. I hope we get a downpour soon. Only rain can provide respite from this heat. Though reports of pre-monsoon showers have come from various parts of the state, Bhubaneswar is yet to receive any rain,” said Nimisha Panigrahi, a student.

Odisha has been reeling from extreme heat wave conditions for the past one month. Various places, including Bhubaneswar, recorded highest temperatures, beating all the previous records. Bhubaneswar had recorded a temperature of 46.7°C on June 5, beating the previous record of 46.5°C on May 22, 1972.

On June 11, the city received 3.1mm rainfall. Similarly, the other two occasions when it rained in the city were June 3 (5.9mm) and June 4 (0.7mm) so far.

“Every time, rain comes with gusty wind, but hardly it has rained so far. We are witnessing merely dust storms. And there is no guarantee it will start raining over the next few days either,” said Divyajyoti Barik, a businessman.

The weatherman also forecast that the city temperature was likely to dip further with chances of thunder showers during seven days.

The humidity level for Bhubaneswar is also likely to remain over 80 per cent tomorrow.

However, temperature of six places in the state remained above 40°C. Titilagarh was the hottest place of the state with a temperature of 42.2°C followed by Balangir and Bhawanipatna with temperature of 40.5°C.

In north Bengal monsoon kicked in last week and heavy rain has been forecast over the next 24 hours. How Bhubaneswar would have loved to trade places with Siliguri!