Rain cripples life in Odisha

Heavy rains crippled normal life in several parts of Odisha Thursday as the low pressure over the Bay of Bengal intensified into a depression.

The depression may trigger heavy downpour till Friday, officials said.

As heavy rain pounded several parts of the state since Tuesday, low-lying areas including Jagatsinghpur, Puri, Cuttack, Kendrapara, Jajpur, Bhadrak and Khurda were inundated, they said.

As several areas are marooned in Cuttack city, the administration declared closure of all educational institutions Thursday.

Life came to a standstill in the port town of Paradip which recorded a maximum rainfall of 412 mm rain since Wednesday, they said, adding water logging in several areas of the port disrupted loading and unloading of consignments.

A large number of vehicles were seen submerged in water as all low-lying areas in Paradip faced deluge.

Areas around the famous Sun Temple in Konark are under knee-deep water, while many places in the seaside pilgrim town of Puri faced severe water logging, they said.

Wednesday's low pressure concentrated into a depression and lay centred over the north west Bay of Bengal and areas, about 25 km east of Digha in West Bengal, said Director of Bhubaneswar Regional Meteorological Centre H R Biswas.

The system is likely to move to north-west and then weaken gradually during the next 24 hours, he said.

Under its impact, rain and thundershower is likely to occur in most places in Odisha, while heavy to very heavy rainfall and extremely heavy rainfall may lash northern, southern and interior regions, he said in a bulletin.

Squally wind with a speed of 40-50 kmph and up to 60 kmph is likely to sweep areas along and off Odisha and West Bengal coasts in the next 24 hours, while sea condition would be rough to very rough, it said