Rain batters Odisha as Bhubaneswar, Puri receive record rainfall
Odisha capital Bhubaneswar received 195 mm rainfall in 24 hours, breaking a 63-year-old record, as rain clobbered large parts of the state and prompted authorities to issue a flood alert, officials said on Monday. Two people have reportedly died in an incident of a wall collapse in Kendrapara district but there was no official confirmation.
Puri broke 87-year-old record with 341 mm of rain
The pilgrim town of Puri also broke an 87-year-old record with 341 mm of rain in a single day. The coastal town had received 210.8 mm rain on September 2, 1934, officials said. Vehicles were seen floating on the water near ISKCON temple in the Nayapalli area of the state capital where gushing water swamped homes and markets.
Some houses in Dumuduma built on farmland have developed cracks
An ambulance which had got stuck on way to a hospital was seen being pushed to a dry patch of road by locals. Some houses in Dumuduma locality built on farmland have developed cracks, locals said. Identical scenes were witnessed in Puri, Cuttack and Paradip. Officials said municipal authorities have deployed over 100 pumps in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack to drain out the water.
Heavy rain has been battering Odisha since a few days
Heavy rain, triggered by a deep depression, has been battering Odisha over the last few days. Waterlogging was reported from several areas of Bhubaneswar as the state capital recorded 195 mm rainfall in 24 hours till 8.30 am on Monday. On September 9, 1958, the city had received 163 mm rainfall, they said.
The weather office issued alerts for 13 districts
The depression over the northwest Bay of Bengal intensified into a deep depression and crossed the coast near Chandbali in Bhadrak district on Monday morning, following which the weather office issued alerts for 13 districts. The system is very likely to continue moving west-northwestwards across north Odisha, north Chhattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh during the next 48 hours, the weather office said.
A Red warning was issued for five districts
The weather office has issued a Red warning, predicting heavy to very heavy and extremely heavy rains, for Sambalpur, Deogarh, Angul, Sonepur as well as Bargarh. In the last 24 hours, Puri received 341 mm rainfall, followed by Paradip (219 mm), Gopalpur (64 mm), Chandbali (46 mm), Balasore (24 mm), the weather office further said.
Major rivers, tributaries continued to swell due to incessant rain
The Central Water Commission (CWC) issued an alert for several districts as major rivers and their tributaries continued to swell due to the incessant rain. "Brahmani river and its tributaries' water levels are expected to rise in districts such as Angul, Deogarh, Sundargarh, Kendrapara, Dhenkanal, and Jajpur. Water levels of river Baitarani are expected to rise in districts Keonjhar and Bhadrak," the CWC said.
Flood situation is expected in Odisha, a CWC alert said
The water levels of Mahanadi and its tributaries are likely to rise in Cuttack, Khordha, Puri, Jagatsinghpur, Jharsuguda, and Bolangir, it said. A flood situation is expected in Odisha since the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted extremely heavy rains, the CWC alert said.
Ports were asked to hoist local cautionary signal-III
At present, the Jalka river of Subarnarekha basin in Balasore is flowing above the danger mark, it said. The Office of Special Relief Commissioner in Bhubaneswar received reports of two persons being killed due to wall collapse following heavy rains in Kendrapara. The weather office asked all ports to hoist local cautionary signal-III as the sea condition remains rough due to deep depression.
