West Bengal Govt Declares Early School Summer Vacation Due to Heatwave

West Bengal government declares an early school summer vacation due to the extreme heatwave in the state. On Tuesday, India Meteorological Department, IMD stated that dry westerly to northwesterly wind at lower levels will blow in the region. The heatwave condition forced the government to declare early summer vacation on Thursday which will commence in the state-run school from April 22, 2024. Earlier the break was to begin on May 5, 2024.

Temperature of West Bengal

The maximum temperature in Kolkata on Wednesday was 39.4°C. Based on this temperature and after the announcement of Panagarh in West Burdwan with the highest and record temperature of 42.5°C, the IMD declared that south Bengal will experience extreme heat for the upcoming two to three days. However, the summer vacation from April 22, will not be the same in the hill areas like Kalimpong and Darjeeling districts. Schools there may remain open until further announcements.

In areas like Dum Dum, Midnapore, Bankura, Salt Lake, Canning, Kalikunda, Burdwan, Asansol, Purulia, Jhargram, and Balurghat, the day temperatures have already been 40°C. On Wednesday the temperature of Kolkata stayed around 39.4°C, to 38°C, which was above normal.

On the other hand, IMD has forecasted moderate rain on the polling day in the districts of north Bengal such as Alipurduar, Jalpaiguri, and Cooch Behar on Friday, which is the first phase of the Lok Sabha Elections.

The extreme heatwave conditions will affect likely the districts of south Bengal such as Murshidabad, Birbhum, West Midnapore, East Midnapore, Purulia, Bankura, Jhargram, West Burdwan, East Burdwan, South 24 Parganas and North 24 Parganas for the upcoming days.