Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government declared the closure of all schools in Puri, Ganjam and Gajapati districts on Wednesday following heavy rains in the state incessantly for the past 36 hours.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said the showers were triggered by a cyclonic circulation that lay over west-central Bay of Bengal.
Also on Wednesday, IMD issued orange warning (heavy to very heavy rainfall) for Mayurbhanj, Balasore, Cuttack, Khurda, Puri, Bhadrak and Ganjam districts. It issued the less intense yellow warning for Jajpur, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, Nayagarh, Keonjhar, Kandhamal, Boudh and Dhenkanal districts.
Meanwhile, Bhubaneswar recorded the highest rainfall of 126 mm in the state in 24 hours till 8.30 am on Wednesday. It was followed by Cuttack (107), Balasore (103), Gopalpur (90.6), Paradip (66.4), Balangir (64), Jharsuguda (50.9), Puri (50.1), Baripada (49), Keonjhar (45), Chandbali (42.1), Daringbad (38), Sonepur (36.2), Sundargarh (32), Koraput (29.8), Talcher (22), Angul (21), Hirakud (16) and Sambalpur (13.4).