In view of the prevailing weather conditions, all government, provincialized and private schools coming under Kamrup metropolitan district will remain closed from September 24 to 27. The order issued by the district elementary education officer on Monday will come into effect immediately.

The measure comes in the wake of school children falling ill and fainting due to excessive heat and dehydration, with such reports coming from heads of institutions of several schools in the Kamrup (metro) district. As such, the elementary education department, with the approval of the district commissioner, issued the order to keep schools closed from Tuesday till Friday.

"This decision has been taken in order to safeguard the students from the ill-effects of exposure to excessive heat and thereby, ensuring the health and well-being of the students," the order read.

It mentioned, "Based on the reports received from Head of the Institutions of different schools under Kamrup Metro regarding various incidents of Ill-health and fainting of students due to excessive heat and dehydration and with due approval from District Commissioner, Kamrup Metro, it has been decided that all Govt/ Provincialized/ Private schools functioning under Kamrup Metro district are to remain close from 24th to 27th September 2024 due to excessive heat and rising temperature in the district."

Notably, Guwahati has been witnessing intense heatwaves for the past week with temperatures rising by 4-5°C. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) had last week predicted the conditions to persist for the next 3-4 days.

Although hot conditions will prevail, moderate rainfall is expected at many places in Mizoram, while light to moderate rain is likely in parts of Meghalaya, Nagaland, and Tripura, IMD stated, adding that scattered light rain is also predicted in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, and Manipur over the next five days.