Heavy rains hit life in Odisha; downpour likely to continue

Life remained crippled in most parts of Odisha due to heavy downpour triggered by a low pressure which turned into a depression today raising the likelihood of more rains.

Train services as well as road traffic were severely affected in several areas of the state due to waterlogging caused by incessant rains since yesterday, officials said.

At least five trains were cancelled, 11 others partially cancelled, five trains rescheduled and originating station of five others altered, East Coast Railway (ECoR) sources said, adding that waterlogging and flooding was also reported in the Puri railway station yard.

Movement of vehicles was hit in several places as road links were snapped due to gushing water, while educational institutions remained closed in Cuttack and Khurda, officials said.

As the state was grappling with the situation caused by heavy rains, the low pressure area has concentrated into a depression over northwest Bay of Bengal this evening, Director of the Meteorological Centre here H R Biswas said.

Under its impact, rain and thundershower is likely to occur at many places in Odisha till tomorrow. Heavy rainfall is likely to lash northern and coastal interior parts of the state until tomorrow, said Biswas.

Heavy rainfall alert was sounded for several areas in Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Jajpur, Puri, Khurda, Nayagarh, Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Angul, Bhadrak, Balasore, Mayurbhanj, Jharsuguda, Boudh, Kandhamal and Kalahandi till tomorrow.

Puri district recorded the maximum rainfall of 305 mm, causing hardships to people as low-lying areas were inundated, the officials said.

'Bada Danda' (Grand Road), the road facing the Shri Jagannath Temple at Puri, was in knee-deep water, they said, adding that many other localities like the VIP road, Gajapati Nagar and Baliapanda were inundated by the rain water.

The state capital, Bhubaneswar, recorded a rainfall of 141.4 mm which caused severe waterlogging at many places such as Acharya Vihar, Jaydev Vihar, Nayapalli, Paika Nagar, Bomikhal, Dumduma, Samantarapur, GGP Colony, Jharpara and Gouri Nagar with rain water gushing into houses in several localities, the officials said.

Personnel of the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation and fire brigade were pumping the water out and rescuing people in the affected areas, they said.

The situation was equally bad in Cuttack where road traffic was severely affected as rain water inundated many places, the officials said.

Though water levels in several rivers were rising at many places, they were well below the danger mark, they said, adding that there was no cause for panic. Water levels in rivers like Baitarani, Subarnarekha, Budhabalanga and Jalaka have started receding, they said.

Deputy Relief Commissioner Pravat Ranjan Mohapatra ruled out the possibility of flood in the state but the administration in districts like Balasore and Mayurbhanj were asked to be in alert.

Average rainfall of the state recorded for the last 24 hours was 34.2 mm while the precipitation was much more than that in districts of Puri (134.9 mm), Khordha (95.0 mm), Cuttack (77.4 mm) and Jagatsinghpur (68.4 mm). All 30 districts received more or less rainfall in the last 24 hours.

Puri Sadar Block has recorded rainfall of more than 300 mm since yesterday. Eleven more Blocks have recorded rainfall of over 100 mm, Special Relief Commissioner's office said in a statement.