Kolkata: West Bengal issued orders on Sunday to keep all educational institutions closed for the whole next week due to severe heatwave conditions, PTI reported.
Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that children have been complaining of headaches as well as other health issues when back home after school in recent days.
"All educational institutions, including schools, colleges, and universities, will remain closed from Monday till Saturday next week, keeping in mind the severe heatwave conditions," she said. "I urge the private educational institutions to do the same during this period," Banerjee told a Bengali news channel.
She added that an official notification regarding this would be issued soon.
"I will also request people to avoid coming out in the sun from 12 pm to 4 pm," she said.
Earlier, the state government had announced preponing the summer vacation in state-run and aided schools, except in the hill areas, here by three weeks to May 2 because of the surging temperatures.
A majority of areas in the state have been recording temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius. Also, the MeT Department has forecast that heatwave conditions will continue till April 19, PTI reported.