Houses damaged, bridges submerged as heavy rains hit Odisha

The IMD forecast more showers for September 15.

At least 40 houses were damaged in Koraput and 60 'kutcha' houses destroyed in Kandhamal district, while bridges were submerged cutting off road links from Malkhangiri to Motu, while schools were shut in Bolangir district as heavy rain lashed Odisha on Thursday.

The IMD forecast more showers for Friday.

The Special Relief Commissioner's (SRC) office said reports of 40 houses damaged in Koraput and 63 'kutcha' houses destroyed in Kandhamal district have been received.

The Bolangir district administration announced the closure of all schools and Anganwadi centres in the district. Bolangir block received the highest rainfall of 215 mm in the state.

The rainfall caused havoc in the districts of Malkangiri, Kandhamal and Bolangir. In Malkangiri district the MV-96 bridge along National Highway No 326 at Kalimela has been submerged. Flood water is reportedly flowing above the bridge and many others, official sources said, adding that communication from Malkangiri to Motu has been snapped.

The rainfall also affected normal life in Kandhamal district.

The low-pressure area in the Bay of Bengal has intensified and become well-marked and expected to move across Odisha and Chhattisgarh during the next two days, the IMD said, adding that the southwest monsoon has also been vigorous over the state, leading to very heavy shower in Bolangir and Rayagada district in the past 24 hours.

"With intense spells of rain continuing during the next 24 hours, flash floods may occur in interior pockets with the likely increase in the water level of rivers in the state," weather scientist Umashankar Das of Regional Meteorology Centre, Bhubaneswar, told reporters, adding that the intensity of rainfall will gradually decline from September 15.

The Met office said that Odisha recorded 49.3 mm rainfall in the last 24 hours till 8.30 am and an average of 189.9 mm from September 1 to 14 against the month’s average of 231.9 mm.

Meanwhile, the IMD issued a Red warning of heavy to very heavy rainfall in six districts of Bolangir, Kalahandi, Sonepur, Bargarh, Nuapada and Sambalpur and Orange warning of heavy rainfall at a few places in nine districts of Nabarangpur, Kandhamal, Boudh, Cuttack, Deogarh, Jharsuguda, Sundargarh, Angul, and Dhenkanal on Thursday.

The IMD also issued a yellow warning in Nabarangpur, Nuapada, Bargarh, Jharsuguda and Sundargarh districts on Friday.

Engineer-in-Chief of the Water Resources department, Bhakta Ranjan Mohanty said that the state government is ready for any situation.

He said though the upper catchment areas of the Mahanadi river received an average rainfall of around 37 mm, there has been a decline in rainfall intensity in lower catchment area. There is no possibility of a flood now, Mohanty said.

Mohanty said a peak inflow of around 2,00,000 cusecs is expected to enter into the Hirakud reservoir. The authorities have opened 10 gates of Hirakud and the current water level of the reservoir stands at 628.77 ft.