Bhubaneswar: A deep depression lashed Odisha with heavy rain Friday, with at least 24 places recording more than 100 mm of rainfall, forcing authorities to close schools as rivers swelled, landslides occurred, waterlogging spread and houses were damaged.
Around 10,000 people living in low-lying and landslide-prone areas in the southern and western region of the eastern coastal state have been shifted to 200 relief centres.
The deep depression that made landfall on the Andhra Pradesh coast a day ago entered Odisha, causing heavy to very heavy rain in 24 hours until 8.30 am Friday. Tentulikhunti in Nabarangpur district was the wettest at 395 mm rainfall, followed by Nandahandi at 344 mm, and Boriguma in Koraput district at 307.8 mm rainfall.
The calamity severely hit six districts of southern Odisha and also impacted life in western and coastal regions, including Bhubaneswar, an official said.
He said the water levels of the Jalaka and Budhabalanga rivers in Balasore district, and the Baitarani and Kani rivers in Jajpur district have already crossed their danger marks, threatening another bout of flood.
The state has already suffered two rounds of floods since the start of the monsoon season.
The official said the state government has moved around 10,000 people to 200 relief centres, while 33 rescue teams of the Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) and over 300 teams of Fire Service personnel have been engaged in clearing road blockades caused by uprooted trees and landslides.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the deep depression has weakened into a depression and lies centred over the south interior of Odisha, adjoining Chhattisgarh.
It was active in Odisha’s Nuapada district, and about 90 km from Titlagarh, 100 km from Bhawanipatna, 110 km from Chhattisgarh’s Kanker and 120 km from Raipur.
“It is very likely to continue to move north-northwestwards and maintain its intensity during the next 12 hours and weaken into a well-marked low-pressure area during the subsequent 12 hours,” the IMD said in a morning update.
Depression is a weather system that is less intense than a cyclonic storm and larger than the impact of a low-pressure area.
In Kandhamal district, a landslide at Kalinga Ghat has brought down nearly 200 metres of a guard wall. At Bada Ghati in Khallikote, boulders fell onto NH-16, disrupting traffic.
Roads at several ghats in Mohana of Gajapati district and different parts of Malkangiri were blocked by landslides. In Rayagada, uprooted trees blocked roads at several locations, while landslides on railway tracks affected train services in Rayagada division of the East Coast Railway Zone.
The government also received reports of disruption in road connectivity from affected areas, a revenue department official, adding that several parts of Brahmapur city have also remained waterlogged.
Orissa POST – Odisha’s No.1 English Daily
