Flood alert in Balasore as major rivers in spate

Bhubaneswar: Withan impending flood threat looming over the northern part of the State, the Odisha government on Sunday placed the Balasore district administration on high alert, as several major rivers in the region continue to swell, an official said. Rivers including Budhabalanga, Subarnarekha, Jalaka and Sono are witnessing rising water levels and may cause flooding by Monday.

To oversee the situation on the ground and assist in flood management, an engineer-in-chief and a chief engineer have been deployed in Balasore. At 4 pm on Sunday, the Subarnarekha river was flowing at 8.41 metres at Rajghat, nearing its danger level of 10.36 metres. The Budhabalanga river was recorded at 6.94 metres at Govindpur against the danger mark of 8.13 metres. Notably, the Jalaka river at Mathani had already crossed its danger level, flowing at 6.65 metres against a red mark of 6.50 metres, a Water Resources department official said.

“In this backdrop, peak flood is expected in Subarnarekha at 11.25 metres at midnight, in Budhabalanga river at 8.20 metres at 9 am on Monday and in Jalaka river at at 6.82 metres at 6 pm on Sunday,” an official said.

In a bid to mitigate the flood situation, the State Flood Cell in the department of Water Resources is working round-the-clock and the situation is being closely monitored. “Balasore Collector has been alerted to expedite evacuation and relief operations,” he said.

Meanwhile, a fresh low pressure area has formed over Northwest Bay of Bengal and adjoining West Bengal and Bangladesh coasts, under which northern Odisha is likely to receive heavy rainfall, India Meteorological Department said in a bulletin on Sunday.

“Under the influence of the upper air cyclonic circulation over southwest Bangladesh and Gangetic West Bengal, another low pressure area has formed over Northwest Bay of Bengal and adjoining West Bengal and Bangladesh coasts at 5.30 am on June 29,” IMD said. The system is likely to move slowly west northwestwards across North Odisha, Gangetic West Bengal and Jharkhand during the next 2 days.

The IMD has forecast isolated heavy rainfall in the State from June 29 to July 4.

“Some places in the State may also witness very heavy rainfall till July 1,” it said. “The low pressure is likely to trigger very heavy rains in parts of Odisha between Sunday and Tuesday.

As the southwest monsoon is active over the State, heavy rainfall activity is expected to prevail next week,” said Manorama Mohanty, the Director of Meteorological Centre, Bhubaneswar.

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