New Delhi  -  At least 22 people have died in a severe heatwave in India's eastern state of Orissa where temperatures have exceeded 45 degrees celsius, media reports said Tuesday.

News channels reported that 22 people had died of sunstroke over the past fortnight. However, state officials confirmed the deaths of only four people in Orissa.

State authorities ordered the closure of schools because of the heatwave as people in several areas were facing a shortage of drinking water, the CNN-IBN news channel reported.

Agricultural labourers were allowed work only in the morning hours in view of the rising death toll due to high temperatures that were not expected to drop significantly anytime soon.

"The north westerly wind pattern is causing these conditions. The huge humidity at the coastal Orissa and dry air in western Orissa is making the situation worse," SC Sahu, senior weather official in state capital Bhubaneshwar was quoted by the CNN-IBN network as saying. (dpa)