Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has put administrative machinery across districts on high alert following a heavy rain forecast by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) till August 18.
Reviewing the state’s disaster preparedness at a high-level meeting with senior departmental officials and IMD representatives, Chief Secretary Anu Garg outlined the state’s strategic response and precautionary measures to mitigate potential waterlogging and flood risks. “As per the assessment by the IMD Director, there is a likelihood of heavy rainfall across the state over the next three days — August 16, 17, and 18, Accordingly, a Red Warning has been issued for four districts, while several others have been placed under Orange and Yellow alerts. We expect rainfall to intensify on August 17 before gradually tapering off from Day 3 onwards, with conditions normalising by Day 4,” she said at a presser.
A red warning for heavy to very heavy rainfall, with isolated extremely heavy downpours, has been issued for Baleshwar, Bhadrak, Kendujhar, and Mayurbhanj districts on August 16. The red alert will continue for Baleshwar, Kendujhar, and Mayurbhanj into the second day as well.
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Meanwhile, the low-pressure area over Northwest Bay of Bengal and adjoining West Bengal-North Odisha coasts has become well-marked and is likely to move northwestwards and concentrate into a Depression during the next 24 hours.
To ensure zero negligence and immediate emergency intervention, the state administration has canceled the leave of all key government officials and ordered field-level deployments. “All department officials have been placed on full alert. District Collectors, alongside their teams and field officers, are actively monitoring the ground situation,” Garg explained.
“Pre-positioning of essential supplies and relief materials has already been carried out in vulnerable areas,” she added.
In addition to local administrative teams, three senior IAS officers – Sudhansu Samal, Sudarshan Chakravarthy and P Anvesha Reddy, with prior field experience are being dispatched to critical districts to coordinate relief operations alongside local collectors. “Leave for all officials has been canceled, and those currently on leave have been recalled immediately. Senior officers with prior administrative experience are being sent to assist collectors in high-risk districts such as Bhadrak, Baleshwar and Jajpur, and additional deployments will be made wherever necessary to maintain active coordination between district authorities and state headquarters.”
Flooding has impacted 49 blocks, five urban areas, and 331 gram panchayats.
According to the Chief Secretary, around 5.15 lakh people have been affected, with 2.37 lakh evacuated and relocated to 293 relief camps established across the affected areas.
Garg further highlighted that Odisha has already received significantly higher rainfall than normal during the ongoing monsoon season, “From June 1 to August 16, the state recorded 953 mm of rainfall against the seasonal average of 749 mm for this period. This puts Odisha at a 27% rainfall surplus, requiring heightened vigilance across river basins and low-lying areas.”
The administration is monitoring water levels closely, with emergency disaster response forces (ODRAF and NDRF) placed on standby across vulnerable districts, she added.
Notably,, water levels at three river gauge stations across Odisha breached the danger mark on Sunday morning, with rising trends observed along the Brahmani and Baitarani rivers, according to data from the Central Water Commission and Odisha’s Department of Water Resources.
As of 9 AM on August, Brahmani River was above the danger mark of of 8.23 metre and 18.33 metre at both Indupur (8.47 m) and Akhuapada (18.53 m) respectively, while the Jalaka River at Mathani Road Bridge held steady at 6.52 metre, slightly over its 6.50 metre threshold.
In contrast, most other major rivers in Odisha remain in the safe zone well below their danger thresholds. Water levels for the Mahanadi river at Naraj (IB) were recorded at 2.80 metres below the danger line, while gauge sites at Jenapur on the Brahmani and Anandapur on the Baitarani reported falling water levels. Other major rivers, including the Kusabhadra, Devi, Budhabalanga, Subarnarekha, Rushikulya, and Vansadhara, are also flowing safely below danger levels.
To prevent crocodile attacks, authorities have stepped up safety warnings and urged residents to avoid entering high-risk areas to watch floodwaters or snap photos. The Animal Resources Development Department has stockpiled 5,000 quintals of cattle feed and deployed 36 Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) for bi-daily field evaluations. Additionally, health and community medicine teams from medical colleges have been stationed across affected regions and relief camps, with adequate anti-snake venom reserves.