The West Bengal government on Tuesday announced that the summer vacation for state-run and state-aided schools would be extended by 10 days due to intense heat in some regions. West Bengal Education Minister Partha Chatterjee said schools would remain closed till June 30, ANI reported. Earlier, schools were to reopen on June 20.

Chatterjee added that the state government would request private schools to follow suit.

The maximum temperature in Kolkata crossed 40 degrees Celsius on Monday, the regional weather office said, almost seven degrees above normal. The minimum temperature was 30 degrees Celsius, three degrees above normal.

Meanwhile, the Andhra Pradesh government also decided to shut schools for three days from June 19 to 21 in view of a heat wave. State Human Resources Development Minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao said the decision was made to protect children from the intense heat, The Hindu reported. Both public and private schools will remain closed.

The temperature in Visakhapatnam touched 41.4 degree Celsius on Sunday. The Indian Meteorological Department said temperatures would hover between 40 degrees Celsius and 42 degrees Celsius, nearly seven degrees above normal, on Tuesday.

The government decided to shut schools after a Class 6 student died, purportedly due to sunstroke. Twelve-year-old Sagar Gupta, who attended a private school in China Waltair, a neighbourhood in Visakhapatnam, died of fever allegedly brought on by sunstroke, The New Indian Express reported. However, state health officials did not confirm the cause of death.

In Odisha, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik ordered all schools to extend their summer holidays till June 25, “to give relief to school-going children from the extreme heat wave conditions”.

Earlier, the state government had extended holidays till June 20. For the last three days, the temperature in many parts of the state has been above 41 degrees Celsius, reported The New Indian Express.