Odisha should brace for more rain as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Saturday confirmed the formation of a fresh low-pressure area over the Bay of Bengal. Odisha may receive heavy rainfall till September 4, Friday.
As per the IMD, the northern, interior, and coastal parts of Odisha in particular are likely to get intense rainfall in the coming days.
"Under the influence of the upper air cyclonic circulation over the northwest Bay of Bengal and adjoining West Bengal-Bangladesh coasts, a low-pressure area has formed over the northwest Bay of Bengal and adjoining West Bengal-north Odisha coasts at 5:30 am," the IMD said in a bulletin.
Odisha is already grappling with floods in some regions, with over 67,000 people in three districts affected in the second wave of the deluge, the official said. Relief and restoration operations were underway on a war footing, and the situation was being monitored round the clock, he said, adding that getting access to marooned villages and the supply of cooked food and safe drinking water were of immediate priority.
However, the situation has improved in many places as the water levels in all major rivers have receded and are flowing much below the danger mark.
The IMD had earlier issued alerts for heavy to very heavy rainfall in various parts of Odisha between August 20 and September 4.
For Saturday, it sounded an alert for heavy rain at one or two places in the flood-hit districts of Balasore, Bhadrak, Jagatsinghpur, Keonjhar, Kendrapara, and Mayurbhanj, as well as other districts including Jajpur, Cuttack, Sundargarh, Jharsuguda, Bargarh, Sambalpur, Deogarh, Angul, Dhenkanal, Kalahandi, Puri, and Nayagarh.
"As squally weather with wind speeds reaching 40–50 kmph, occasionally gusting to 60 kmph, is very likely to prevail along and off the Odisha coast till August 31, fishermen have been advised not to venture into the sea during the period," the IMD bulletin said.
