Heavy rain lashes south Odisha

Bhubaneswar: Norma life was affected in southern Odisha on Monday as low pressure-induced rain lashed Malkangiri, Nabarangpur, Gajapati and Koraput districts, officials said. Due to continuous downpour over the last two days, many low-lying areas in Malkangiri district have been inundated by floodwaters. Water was flowing four feet above Potteru, Kangurkonda, Kalimela and Kanyashram bridges.

Similarly, Malkangiri-Motu-Jeypore National Highway 326 remained out of bounds for vehicles as water was flowing above the road at some places. Due to the submergence of the bridges, many vehicles, including passenger buses. were stranded.

The Chalanguda bridge on Malkangiri-Sukma Road has also been submerged, cutting off communication with Chhattisgarh. A portion of the boundary wall of the Malkangiri airport has collapsed due to heavy downpour. In view of this, the Malkangiri district administration has been vigilant to ensure no loss of life or property. All the panchayat and block level employees have been instructed to be alert. The local administrations in all the flood-prone areas have been instructed to remain ready to evacuate the people to safe shelters, an officer of Malkangiri district said.

The Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) team and Fire Services personnel have been instructed to remain ready for any exigency. All schools and Anganwadi centres in Malkangiri and Nabarangpur districts have remained closed in view of the heavy rainfall. The district collectors concerned have issued separate orders for this purpose.

In Koraput district, landslides were reported in Kakirigumma, because of which vehicular movement on the road connecting Kakirigumma and Talameting, and Narayanpatna and Talagumandi, was disrupted. There were reports of uprooted trees in Gajapati district due to continuous rain for the last two days.

Meanwhile, the IMD said the State, in the last 24 hours till 8.30 am on Monday, recorded 19 mm rainfall, the highest of 133 mm being recorded at Kotpad in Koraput district, followed by 108.6 mm at Malkangiri. The IMD said the well-marked low pressure area over west-central and adjoining north-west Bay of Bengal off north Andhra Pradesh and south Odisha coasts is likely to intensify into a depression over the next 12 hours. Southern Odisha is likely to get heavy rainfall till Tuesday afternoon, the IMD said.

As the sea conditions are very likely to be rough, the IMD suggested fishermen not to venture into the deep sea from August 18 to Aug 20. Those out at sea may return to coast by Monday, it said. The weather office also issued ‘red’ warning (take action), forecasting extremely heavy rainfall (20 cm and above) in Koraput, Malkangiri and Nabarangpur districts in southern region of the State. It also forecast heavy rainfall (below 20 cm) in 12 other districts and thunderstorm in 15 districts.