Bihar schools closed till June 8 due to soaring heat, heatwaves predicted on polling day

The Bihar government on Thursday ordered the closure of schools and coaching institutes till June 8 due to heatwave conditions.

The letter written by Bihar chief secretary Brajesh Mehrotra to all district magistrates stated that all government and private schools, coaching centres and anganwadi centres should be closed as heatwave conditions are likely to prevail until June 8, following instructions from Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

He further directed district magistrates to exercise utmost caution and follow the guidelines of the state disaster management department. The directive further alerted district units of all state government departments to act in accordance with the SOPs defined for them.

With temperatures soaring above 44 degrees Celsius in various parts of the state, Mehrotra convened a high-level meeting to assess the readiness of departments concerned in addressing the heatwave crisis, news agency PTI reported.

The Indian Meteorological Department predicted heatwave conditions for another three to four days in the state. “People are advised to avoid heat exposure, keep cool and avoid dehydration,” a senior official of the Bihar Disaster Management Department was quoted as saying by PTI.

Meanwhile, the weather body has predicted heatwaves on the polling day for the seventh phase of Lok Sabha elections on June 1.