Bhubaneswar: Special Relief Commissioner Rajesh P Patil on Saturday asked all districts to remain fully alert as Odisha braced for another spell of heavy rain triggered by a fresh low-pressure area over the Bay of Bengal.
Patil said the SRC Office and the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) are maintaining round-the-clock monitoring in coordination with all District Emergency Operation Centres (DEOCs) across the state.
The IMD has forecast that a low-pressure area is likely to form over the north Bay of Bengal, off the West Bengal-Bangladesh coasts, on Sunday. The upper air cyclonic circulation over central Myanmar and neighbourhood now lies over the north Bay of Bengal. Under its influence, the low pressure is likely to form during the next 24 hours, the weather agency said.
Under its influence, Odisha is likely to receive isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall till August 29, including in several districts already hit by floods.
Meteorological Centre, Bhubaneswar said the system is likely to trigger heavy to very heavy rain with thunderstorms across different parts of Odisha till the morning of August 29. Fishermen have been advised not to venture into the sea from August 22 to 24.
An engineer of the Water Resources Department warned that heavy rain in Mayurbhanj and Keonjhar on August 22 and 23 could trigger fresh flooding in the Jalaka and Budhabalanga rivers and inundate some areas of Balasore and Mayurbhanj districts.
Meanwhile, the SRC said the flood situation is under control as water levels in all major rivers have receded and are flowing well below the danger mark. However, floodwater continued to affect 703 villages in four districts – Balasore, Kendrapara, Bhadrak and Jajpur. “The immediate priorities are to give access to cut-off habitations, supply of cooked food and safe drinking water,” Patil said.
The latest spell of flooding has affected around 14 lakh people in seven districts – Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapara, Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar and Sundargarh. The government has deployed 86 teams comprising 32 ODRAF, 8 NDRF and 46 Fire and Emergency Services teams and released Rs 167.55 crore from the State Disaster Response Fund in three phases for relief and rescue operations.
