Bhubaneswar: The spell of heavy rain is set to continue in Odisha with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Monday predicting formation of a fresh low pressure over northwest Bay of Bengal & neighbourhood around August 13.
“A cyclonic circulation lies over northwest Bay of Bengal & neighbourhood. Under its influence, a low-pressure area is likely to form over the same region around August 13,” the IMD said in its morning bulletin.
The monsoon had picked up pace again over Odisha after a low-pressure area developed over south Gangetic West Bengal and adjoining north Odisha on August 8, triggering a rainy week across Odisha with light to moderate showers and heavy rain spells expected through August 15. In July, Odisha experienced extreme rainfall and widespread flooding triggered by two major low-pressure systems: a deep depression off the northwest Bay of Bengal from July 2–5 and another system near the north Odisha and West Bengal coasts on July 25, both of which prompted red alerts.
The latest spell in parts of the state coupled with rising water levels in many rivers has again created a flood-like situation in several pockets of north Odisha, which was limping back to normal after a major flood a few days ago. While two people from Jajpur and Kendrapada districts were swept away in floodwaters over the last two days, crops were damaged and road communication was cut off in Bhadrak and Jajpur districts as as rivers Baitarani and Salandi, along with some branch rivers, continued to swell and inundated low-lying areas.
An embankment breach was reported in Dasarathapur block of Jajpur district and another in a check dam at Solaghara in Sambalpur district. Some villages in Athagarh block of Cuttack district were also flooded. The Hirakud reservoir also opened four more sluice gates to release floodwater due to rain in the upper catchment areas, taking the total number to 12.
Notably, the state has recorded 27 per cent excess rainfall between June 1 and August 8.