On April 22, Titlagarh town in western Odisha’s Balangir district sizzled with a peak temperature of 47.5 degrees Celsius! The Indian Metrological Department declared it as the hottest place in the country.
Temperatures in the village continue to rise and, currently, the peak temperatures in the town touch around 48 degrees. But there's no respite in sight, as this town - which is 450 km from Bhubaneswar - has witnessed temperatures up to a punishing 50.1 degrees in the past. That happened on June 5, 2003.
Deserted streets in Odisha's Titlagarh where highest temperature of 48.5*C was recorded on Sunday (24th April) pic.twitter.com/CGID5a0vzh
— ANI (@ANI_news) April 26, 2016
Here's a peek into the lives of the nearly 60,000 residents who will bear with this extreme heat till at least June end, after which it begins to cool down:
Titlagarh hottest town, records highest temperature at 48.5 degree celsius https://t.co/k8Egt13THO pic.twitter.com/K59QPgoA1Z
— Hindustan Times (@htTweets) April 26, 2016

A family digging out drinking water from a parched river in #Titlagarh of Odisha @abpnewstv @Naveen_Odisha pic.twitter.com/kNrUU89all
— Pankaj Jha (@pankajjha_) April 29, 2016
To being attention to the water and power woes, the locals made a music video in 2007. The video, which also celebrates how they have learnt to live in the heat, became a huge hit locally.