Heavy rain lash Odisha, more downpour forecast in next 3 days

Heavy rain lashed parts of Odisha since Tuesday due to a low pressure area over Bay of Bengal, disrupting normal life even as more downpour was forecast in the next three days.

The low pressure area, formed over the west-central Bay of Bengal, is likely to intensify into a depression by Thursday night, the Meteorological Centre here said.

Under its impact, light to moderate rain will lash most parts of Odisha till Saturday, while many areas may receive heavy downpour, the MeT Centre said.

Heavy rain in Ganjam, Gajapati, Puri, Jagatsinghpur, Malkangiri, Koraput and Rayagada districts since Wednesday morning inundated several low-lying areas and disrupted vehicular movement, officials said.

The state capital Bhubaneswar and parts of Cuttack, Balasore, Bhadrak and Khurda districts also received rain of varied intensity during the day, they said.

The MeT Centre has issued "yellow" warning (be updated) for Malkangiri, Koraput and Gajapati districts till Thursday morning and predicted heavy to very heavy rain in these districts during the period.

Heavy rainfall was also forecast in parts of Ganjam, Puri, Rayagada, Kandhamal and Nabarangpur districts.

The MeT Centre has issued "orange" warning (be prepared) for Nuapada, Baragarh, Jharsuguda, Sundargarh and Keonjhar districts from Thursday morning to Friday morning, predicting heavy to very heavy rain during the period.

Heavy rain is also likely to pound Kalahandi, Balangir, Sonepur, Sambalpur, Deogarh, Puri, Khordha and Cuttack districts during the same period, it said.

The weather department has issued a yellow warning for Sundargarh, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Balasore and Bhadrak districts from Friday to Saturday morning, forecasting heavy rain during the period.

Also, the MeT Centre has predicted that a squally weather condition with gusty surface winds of up to 50 kmph velocity is likely to prevail along and off the south Odisha coast, advising fishermen not to venture into the sea till Thursday.