The West Bengal government on April 16 issued a notification asking schools, colleges, educational institutes and universities, including private institutes, to remain closed next week due to severe heat wave conditions.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that the priority remained that people did not venture out in the heat in the afternoon and not suffer from heat stroke.
She added that since there was a warning from the weather department, all educational institutions in the State would remain closed next week (April 17-April 22).
She also announced that the summer vacations had been preponed from May 2. Summer vacation for educational institutions was scheduled from May 24.
Later in the day, a notification from West Bengal government said that all schools and educational institutions would be closed for one week until further orders which ever was earlier.
The advisory would not be applicable to educational institutions in the hills in Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts. The government also directed the instructions to make up for the loss by conducting special classes once the institutions opened.
Almost all districts in south Bengal have been recording temperatures in excess of 40 degrees Celsius. The Regional Meteorological Centre at Alipore in Kolkata on April 16 predicted that maximum temperatures in Kolkata will be above 40 degrees Celsius for the next 24 hours. The maximum temperatures recorded over the past few days have been above four degress above normal.
