A policeman quenches his thirst on a road in Bhubaneswar on Thursday. The capital city registered a maximum of 40.3°C while the regional Meteorological centre said mercury had crossed the 45°C mark at nine places in the state. Titilagarh on Thursday sizzled at 47°C, Sonepur at 46.2°C, followed by Hirakud and Talcher at 45.6°C, Jharsuguda at 45.3°C, Angul at 45.1°C, and Bhawanipatna, Balangir and Sundargarh at 45°C.

Met director Sarat Chandra Sahu told The Telegraph that similar heatwave might continue mainly in the interior pockets of the state till the end of this month. "Due to clear skies and less chances of nor'westers, the mercury continued to make a rise in the interior pockets. The temperature may dip a couple of degrees after April 24 but the feeling of the heat will continue till the end of this month," said Sahu.

Text by Sandeep Mishra, Picture by Sanjib Mukherjee