Southern Odisha Pounded By Torrential Rain; Red Alert Issued For Few Districts

Low-lying areas were inundated with rivers flowing in spate as torrential rain pummeled southern Odisha on Monday due to a low-pressure area, which is set to concentrate into a depression.

The well-marked weather system lies over the northwest Bay of Bengal off the coasts of Odisha and northern Andhra Pradesh, the Met office said. It is expected to intensify into a depression during the next 24 hours and move northwestwards across Odisha and Chhattisgarh, the Bhubaneswar Meteorological Centre said.

The districts of Nabarangpur, Koraput, Kalahandi and Malkangiri, Ganjam, Gajapati and Kandhamal bore the brunt of heavy to very heavy rain under the influence of a low pressure and an active monsoon trough, which is passing over southern Odisha.

Dabugam in Nabarangpur recorded extremely heavy rain of 225 mm over a 24-period till 8.30 am, followed by 194 mm in Kotpad town of Koraput. Agriculture fields and roads lay flooded as at least seven weather stations recorded very heavy rain of 116-204 mm, while 17 places were lashed by downpour of 65-115 mm.

Nabangpur Collector Kamal Lochan Mishra inspected the flood situation at Papadahandi as water entered the houses there due to the swollen Turi river. He directed the tehasildar and the block administration to arrange relief for the affected people and keep a close watch on the situation.

A state highway was cut off as a bridge over the Turi went underwater near Papadahandi. The collector deputed officials to the site to ascertain the safety of the bridge before allowing vehicles to ply. A 'red alert' of extremely heavy rain of over 204 mm has been issued for a few places in Gajapati, Ganjam and Kandhamal districts till Tuesday morning, the Met said.

There can be extremely heavy rain in a few places in Bargarh, Sambalpur, Angul and Keonjhar on Tuesday. It may trigger flash floods, landslides or mudslides in vulnerable hilly areas and cause damage to susceptible roads and houses.

It issued an orange warning of very heavy rain in the districts of Cuttack, Bolangir, Boudh, Balasore, Bhadrak, Dhenkanal Deogarh, Jharsuguda, Jajpur Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Mayurbhanj, Sundargarh and Subarnapur on Tuesday.

Fisherfolk have been advised not to venture off the coast till Thursday as squally weather with wind speed of 45-65 kmph is possible over the northwestern Bay of Bengal.

(With PTI inputs)