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Bhubaneswar, June 3: The sun and the rain bore down on the people of Orissa Friday with the capital recording rainfall of 57.7 mm while Bhawanipatna sizzled at
45 degrees Celsius.
The sudden and heavy downpour that lashed the capital for about 30 minutes led to major roads being waterlogged and drains overflowing, causing a lot of inconvenience to commuters.
The overflowing drains also caused problems for Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. Drain water had spilled onto the road near the Chief Minister’s residence, Naveen Niwas. Patnaik’s carcade had to be diverted between the secretariat and Naveen Niwas, while he was returning from the secretariat at 1 pm, according to sources. The carcade travelled along the New Airport Road instead of taking the usual route from Forest Park Square to Old Airport Road and then onto his residence, they said.
The downpour also caused severe problems for patients at Capital Hospital, where people were seen wading through water to enter the wards. The worst affected was the labour ward, where patients are sprawled on the verandah at the best of times because of the limited number of beds. With rainwater flowing onto the verandah, patients had to be moved to the already overcrowded wards in a hurry.
Even the kitchen and electric supply room of the hospital were waterlogged after the heavy pre-monsoon showers.
“The southwest monsoon has further advanced into some more parts of southeast Bay of Bengal and some parts of southwest and eastcentral Bay of Bengal. Conditions are favorable for the onset of the southwest monsoon over Kerala in the next three-to-four days,” said a bulletin of the India Metrological Department (IMD).
Some parts of the state have experienced pre-monsoon showers and the present weather condition is favourable for dragging the monsoon current, said Sarat Chandra Sahu, the director of the Bhubaneswar Metrological Centre.
The monsoon would touch Orissa in the second week of June, though some parts of the state would experience rain in one or two days, according to Sahu.
The state would get normal rainfall this year, he said. Last year, the state had received 11 per cent less rainfall than the normal (between 94 per cent and 106 per cent).
Meanwhile, the heatwave continued to grip western Orissa, with the mercury remaining above 40 degree Celsius in at least four places in the region.
Bhawanipatna town remained the hottest place in the state recording a maximum temperature of
45 degrees Celsius against Thursday’s 44 degree Celsius, according to the IMD buletin.
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