Bhubaneswar: The depression that formed over Gangetic West Bengal on Monday has moved west-northwest and is now centered over Jharkhand and its adjoining areas, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said in a bulletin issued Tuesday morning.
As of 5:30 am, the system was located near latitude 24.0°N and longitude 86.7°E — approximately 40 km northeast of Dhanbad, 140 km east of Hazaribagh, and 200 km east-southeast of Gaya. The system is moving at a speed of 23 kmph and is expected to continue in a west-northwestward direction across Jharkhand and southern Bihar, heading towards eastern Uttar Pradesh. It is likely to maintain its intensity as a depression for the next 24 hours.
Although Odisha is not directly under the system’s core, its outer bands and associated monsoon activity are already impacting northern and coastal parts of the state.
The IMD has issued red and orange alerts for multiple Odisha districts, including Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Sundargarh, Balasore, Jajpur, Bhadrak, and Kendujhar, warning of heavy to very heavy rainfall in isolated places.
According to IMD, the current system is also enhancing monsoon circulation over eastern India, and scattered to widespread rain may continue in Odisha for the next two to three days.
The IMD has urged people to stay updated and take precautions in vulnerable areas, especially near rivers and hilly terrain.
