Four places in Odisha receive extremely heavy rainfall of above 20 cm: IMD

Four places in Odisha recorded extremely heavy rainfall of above 20 cm during the last 24 hours under the impact of the deep depression, the IMD said on Friday.

The highest rainfall of 352 mm was recorded at Thuumual Rampur in Kalahandi district, followed by R Udaygiri and Gumma in Gajapati district, receiving 291 mm and 211 mm of rain respectively, while Junagarh in Kalahandi recorded 210 mm of rainfall till 8.30 am on Friday, it said.

Ten places in the state have also recorded very heavy rainfall of 12 cm to 20 cm, and 42 places reported heavy rainfall of 7 cm to 11 cm during the period, the IMD said.

The IMD has forecast rainfall activities for the entire state and earmarked Sundergarh district under 'Orange' alert of heavy to very heavy rainfall and thunderstorm with lightning accompanied by gusty surface wind speed reaching 30-40 kmph on Friday.

The IMD in its latest bulletin said that the deep depression over Odisha moved north-northwestwards with a speed of 10 kmph and weakened into a depression. "It is very likely to move north-northwestwards across interior Odisha and weaken gradually into a well-marked low pressure during the next 12 hours from 8.30 am of Friday," it said.

One person was killed, two others are missing, and three people were injured in wall collapse due to heavy incessant rains in Odisha, officials said.

Gajapati district has been the worst affected, other southern Odisha districts like Ganjam, Rayagada, Koraput, Nabarangpur and Malkangiri have also witnessed washing away of roads, rainwater flowing over bridges, falling of trees, house collapses and other such activities affecting normal life.

"More than two dozen villages have been cut off from the rest of the state due to road blockade by landslide, tree falling and bridges damaged in the districts of Gajapati and Ganjam," a senior Revenue department official said, adding that the intensity of rains has decreased from 9 am of Friday.

Odisha's Commerce and Transport minister Bibhuti Bhusan Jena has been monitoring the situation in Gajapati district as directed by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi.

The landslide and rainwater flowing on the railway track has affected train service in southern Odisha.