Heavy rainfall forces 12 Odisha districts to shut schools; Bhubaneswar, Puri see record precipitation

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government was forced to shut schools for two days in 12 districts as heavy rainfall continued in the state. The capital Bhubaneswar and pilgrim city Puri saw record rainfall, according to India Meteorological Department.

School and Mass Education Minister Samir Das said schools have been closed in 12 districts for two days i.e. Monday and Tuesday in view of the heavy rainfall warning.

The IMD said that the depression over northwest Bay of Bengal and adjoining Odisha coast intensified into a deep depression and crossed the coast near Chandbali in Bhadrak district on Monday morning.

It is very likely to continue to move west-northwest wards across north Odisha, north Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh during next 48 hours, and weaken into a depression during the subsequent 24 hours, it added.

With 341 mm rainfall in 24 hours (till 8.30 a.m. of Monday), Puri recorded the highest rainfall in a day in 87 years during September, said Umashankar Das, a weather scientist at Bhubaneswar Met centre.

Similarly, capital city Bhubaneswar also broke a 63-year-old rainfall record in this month as the city witnessed 195mm rainfall. On September 9, 1958, the city had received 163 mm rainfall, he said.

Under its influence heavy rainfall occurred in coastal, northern and interior pockets of the State since Sunday morning. Highest 530 mm rainfall recorded at Astaranga in Puri district, followed by Kakatpur (525 mm), Balikda (440 mm) in Jagatsinghpur district, Kantapara (381 mm) in Cuttack district and Niali (370).

Most of the streets in different parts of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack cities were waterlogged following the heavy rainfall. Flood water entered into various low-lying areas, including railway station and Kedargouri temple in Bhubaneswar. The rain water also entered into Acharya Harihar cancer hospital in Cuttack causing problems for the patients.

Predicting very heavy rainfall, the Met Centre has issued a ‘Red alert’ for Sambalpur, Deogarh, Angul, Sonepur and Bargarh districts. Orange warning (be prepared) has been issued for Bolangir, Jharsuguda, Sundergarh, Boudh, Keonjhar, Dhenkanal, Khurda, Jagatsinghpur, Puri and Cuttack.