Heavy rain lash Odisha

As heavy downpour battered several parts of Odisha, rain water submerged many low-lying areas and snapped road connectivity in Malkangiri district on Friday, officials said.

The Meteorological Centre in Bhubaneswar has forecast heavy downpour in most parts of Odisha in the next few days, as a low pressure area is set to form over the Bay of Bengal on August 4.

In view of the inclement weather and a flood-like situation triggered by incessant rains, the Malkangiri district administration has ordered closure of all schools in district for two days, they said.

With water level rising in several rivers, some bridges in low-lying areas in Kokarkonda, Korkunda and MV-37 were submerged in Malkangiri district.

As a result, road connectivity has been severely affected in many areas including Kalimela, Motu and Padia, Malkangiri district Collector Manish Agarwal said.

Vehicular movement on several roads including Malkangiri-Kalimela and Malkangiri-Balimela have been disrupted as water was flowing over bridges, the collector said.

The situation is equally grim in Poteru and Pangam areas where some bridges were submerged by rain water snapping road links, another official said.

The concerned authorities from panchayat to block level have been asked to remain alert, the collector said, adding adequate food materials have been stocked while shelter centre have also been kept ready.

Arrangements have been made to evacuate people from vulnerable areas to safe centres where ever necessary, while schools have been closed on Friday and Saturday.

"We are fully prepared to deal with any situation. Fire services and ODRAF (Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force) personnel are ready to swing into action whenever required," Agarwal said.

Apart from Malkangiri, districts like Nabarangpur, Rayagada and Koraput were also lashed by heavy rains.

Malkangiri has received an average rainfall of 115.86 mm during last 24 hours, an official said.

Barely four days ago, many parts of Malkangiri were marooned as torrential rain inundated vast areas.