The mercury in these districts touched 42 degree Celsius and 44 degree Celsius respectively.

There seems to be no respite from the punishing heat wave condition that has swept over five districts of West Bengal and parts of Gangetic plain, as it will continue to prevail on Friday.

In Kolkata, the maximum temperature hovered around 39 degrees centigrade on Thursday, at least three degrees above the normal.

According to the Met department, no rainfall or Nor'wester was in the offing. But isolated places in sub-Himalayan West Bengal — districts of Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri & Cooch Behar — will receive light or moderate rain.

It was a harrowing ordeal for school students in Kolkata who braved the scorching heat to attend schools. The KMC health department is distributing ORS at various KMC health centres. "We have already distributed 1.5 lakh packets and planning to distribute two lakh more," said Subodh Dey, MMiC (Health). The suffering was heightened with frequent power cuts and severe water crisis in several pockets of the city.