Odisha on alert as IMD forecasts heavy rainfall till October 5

    Bhubaneswar, Oct 1 (PTI) The Odisha government has put on alert all districts after heavy rain lashed most parts of the state, as a low-pressure area over the Bay of Bengal intensified into a depression, officials said on Wednesday.
    In its latest bulletin, the IMD said: “The well-marked low-pressure area over westcentral Bay of Bengal moved north-northwestwards, concentrating into a depression.”
    Depression is a condition that follows a well-marked low pressure and precedes a cyclonic storm, typically resulting in heavy rainfall and gusty winds, according to weather experts.
    Officials in the revenue and disaster management department said several parts of the state have been receiving downpour in the wake of the developing weather system.
    The IMD issued an alert for light to moderate rainfall for all the 30 districts of Odisha for October 1, with chances of heavy rain (7 cm to 11 cm) in Ganjam, Gajapati, Rayagada, Koraput, Malkngiri and Nabarangpur.
    For October 2, it has issued a ‘Red’ warning of above 20-cm rainfall in Puri and Jagstingpur districts, an ‘Orange’ warning (7 cm to 20 cm rain) for 14 districts, and a ‘Yellow’ warning (7 cm to 11 cm rain) for the remaining 14 districts.
    The Odisha government has asked all district collectors to keep men and machinery ready to deal with possible water-logging, flash floods, landslides and associated activities, the officials said.
    Fishermen have been advised not to venture into the sea along and off the Odisha coast during October 1 to October 3.
    “Under the influence of the deep depression, squally wind speed reaching 40-50 kmph gusting to 60 kmph is very likely to prevail over central and adjoining north Bay of Bengal on October 1. It would gradually increase… 55-65 kmph gusting to 75 kmph over westcentral and adjoining northwest Bay of Bengal from October 2 noon to October 3 early morning,” the bulletin said.
    The IMD has also suggested hoisting of ‘Local Cautionary Signal No-III’ (LC-3) at all ports in the state.
    “The weather system lay centered at about 400 km east-southeast of Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), 420 km south-southeast of Gopalpur (Odisha), 450 km south of Puri (Odisha) and 500 km south of Paradip (Odisha) at about 11.30 am,” the IMD bulletin said.
    “It is very likely to continue to move north-northwestwards, intensify further into a deep depression and cross Odisha and adjoining Andhra Pradesh coasts between Gopalpur and Paradip during early morning of October 3,” said Manorama Mohanty, Director of Meteorological Centre, Bhubaneswar.
    In a post on X, IMD scientist U S Das said: “The rainfall continues in Odisha even a day after the annual monsoon season ended on Tuesday.”
    Meanwhile, a report from Cuttack said a 30-feet decorative gate erected near Ravenshaw University for Durga Puja celebrations partially collapse due to heavy rainfall. However, no one was injured in the incident.
    Traffic and pedestrian movement have been regulated following the collapse of the structure.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)