Heavy rainfall has been lashing Odisha, with the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) forecasting more downpours in the next few days due to the formation of a low-pressure area over the Bay of Bengal around August 25.
Several districts, including Sundergarh, Keonjhar, Jharsuguda, and Bargarh, have already received heavy rainfall. This has caused a rise in water levels in several rivers, including Baitarani.
The water level in the Mahanadi River is also likely to swell as its upper catchment areas received heavy downpour in the last 24 hours, officials said.
Similarly, the water level in the Subarnarekha River is expected to rise and cross the warning level, prompting an alert for Balasore district.
On Saturday, the Hirakud Dam authorities also opened eight sluice gates to regulate the reservoir’s water level in anticipation of more water inflow from the Mahanadi river’s upper catchment areas. The water level at Hirakud reservoir was 621 feet against the full reservoir level of 630 feet, an official said.
As heavy rainfall has been lashing Sundergarh and Keonjhar districts, the water level of the river Baitarani has also swelled and touched the danger mark of 18.33 metre near Akhuapada, raising flood fear in Bhadrak district.
The Subarnarekha River’s water level at Rajghat is presently at 7.13 metre. The river is likely to cross the warning level of 9.45 metre by 0900 hours on August 24, an official statement said.
The IMD has forecast heavy to very heavy rainfall in Sundergarh, Keonjhar, Jharsuguda and Bargarh districts on Saturday night and Sunday morning. The weather department also warned of heavy rainfall in 20 other districts of the state.
“A fresh low-pressure area is likely to form over northwest Bay of Bengal off Odisha-West Bengal coasts around August 25. Under its influence, heavy to very heavy rain is likely to pound many areas of the state up to the morning of August 28,” the IMD said in its Saturday’s evening bulletin.
The IMD has issued orange and yellow warnings for different areas during the period.
In a letter to all district collectors, Odisha’s Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) has asked them to remain on alert as per the IMD forecast and start action in the field.
Manorama Mohanty, Director of Meteorological Centre, Bhubaneswar, informed that during this monsoon season (June 1 to August 23), the state has received a cumulative rainfall of 803.3 mm against its normal average of 831 mm, registering a minus 3 per cent rainfall so far.
