Odisha: Deep depression makes landfall near Puri; coastal districts brace for heavy rain

Bhubaneswar, Sep 9 (PTI) With the deep depression over the Bay of Bengal making landfall near Odisha’s Puri, the state government on Monday geared up for relief and rescue operations in the districts likely to be affected by the weather system.

A deep depression is a more intense stage of a low-pressure system and typically precedes the formation of a cyclonic storm, according to the IMD.

"The landfall process for any system, whether a depression or a cyclone, takes time. The current system made landfall between 10.30 am and 11.30 am with wind speeds between 55 km/hour and 65 km/hour," said Manorama Mohanty, Director of the Regional Meteorological Centre in Bhubaneswar.

It is very likely to move further northwestwards across interior Odisha, maintaining its intensity of deep depression till evening, and weaken gradually into a depression by midnight of Monday, the IMD said in a bulletin.

The weather office has issued a 'red alert’ (take action) of heavy to very heavy rainfall (7-20 cm) till 8.30 am of Tuesday for 10 districts – Ganajam, Kadhamal, Nayagarh, Khurda, Bolangir, Boudh, Malkangiri, Koraput, Nawarangpur and Puri.

Heavy rain has also been forecast at isolated places in the districts of Cuttack, Angul, Dhenkanal, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapada, Sonepur during the period.

Fishermen were advised not to venture into the sea until September 11, it said.

Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi held a discussion with Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari, and issued instructions to senior officials and district collectors of Malkangiri and Koraput to take immediate measures to supervise and assist the district administration in relief measures.

Malkangiri received 253 mm rainfall in the last 24 hours till 8.30 am of Monday, snapping several road networks.

Majhi also asked the collectors of coastal districts to remain on alert.

Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) D K Singh has already deployed 18 teams of ODRAF (Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force) in the districts of Malkangiri, Koraput, Rayagada, Ganjam, Kandhamal, Boudh and Bolangir.

The state government has also kept 12 other teams on standby in Ganjam, Khurda, Puri, Nayagarh and Boudh.

Fire Service and NDRF personnel have also been deployed in the rain-affected districts, officials said.

“So far, 560 people have been evacuated (56 in Koraput and 504 in Malkangiri) from the low-lying areas and sheltered in six relief camps,” an official said, adding that around 150 houses have so far been damaged.

Other districts that received heavy rain in the past 24 hours till 8.30 am on Monday were Chitrakonda and Khairput blocks (over 200 mm) in Malkangiri, while several blocks in Korukunda, Mathili, Kalimela in the same district recorded over 100-mm rainfall, along with Borigumma, Boipariguda and Lamtapur of Koraput district.

The state received an average rainfall of 30.4 mm during the period, the Met office said.

Malkangiri District Collector Ashish Iswar Patil has announced the closure of all schools and anganwadi kendras on Tuesday in view of the inclement weather.

Meanwhile, Water Resources Engineer-in-Chief Chandrasekhar Padhi told reporters that minor floods could take place in the Mahanadi river system under the impact of the deep depression.

He said the water level at the Hirakud Dam stood at 623.93 feet against its full reservoir capacity of 630 feet. PTI