3 killed as heavy rain lashes Odisha; more rainfall likely tomorrow

Bhubaneswar, July 21: Three people were killed after heavy rain lashed parts of Odisha for the second day today, prompting Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to order relief measures in the affected areas.

As the India Meteorological Department has forecast more rainfall in the next 24 hours, the chief minister took stock of the situation and asked state administration to undertake relief and rescue operation and ensure no loss of life in the calamity.

Rain claims 3 lives

The Special Relief Commissioner's (SRC) office here confirmed death of three persons due to the heavy rain. A couple died at Sulipadar villager in Raygada district due to wall collapse while a 50-year-old man of Majhiguda village in Malkangiri district died of drowning.

The incident comes a day after seven people were killed due to lightning strikes in Mayurbhanj and Balasore.

Flood-like situation

The depression induced rain has led to the flood-like situation in four districts - Malkangiri, Kalahandi, Rayagada and Nabarangpur - while Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and the holy town of Puri were grappling with waterlogging problems since yesterday.

In view of the situation, the state government offices in all districts would remain open tomorrow, SRC B P Sethi said.

"We have so far evacuated 15 people in Malkangiri district and 1,315 people from low- lying areas Kalahandi district. They are kept in eight shelters and have been provided with cooked food," an official said.

Passengers stranded

Two breaches in NH-59 (Madanpur-Tumudibundh portion) in Kalahandi district had left 50 students and 200 passengers stranded.

"They were rescued and provided with foods and taken to nearby government buildings for shelter for some time," the official said. In worst hit Malkangiri district, communication on NH-326 was disrupted at Saptadhara bridge, Pangam Bridge, Poteru and Kangurukonda. Flood water over topped Malkangiri to Motu road via Kalimela.

Waterlogging

Waterlogging was reported from many areas of the city. Around 181 pumps were functioning for dewatering, officials said, adding cooked food were provided for marooned people.
One ODRAF team has been deployed at Cuttack.

In Bhubaneswar, waterlogging problem was reported from Jaydev Vihar, Nayapalli, Acharya Vihar, Aiginia, Patrapada, Jaydurganagar. ODRAF team was Deployed at Nayapalli and Jayadev vihar in Bhubaneswar.

Schools closed

Schools in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Puri remained closed due to rainfall today. Sources in East Coast Railway Zone said at least three trains were cancelled and several trains rerouted as water submerged railway tracks in several regions.

Train services were also affected due to landslides between Rayagada-Koraput and Rauli-Leliguma areas.

More rains to come

Meanwhile, the IMD has forecast heavy to very heavy rainfall at a few places and extremely heavy rainfall at one or two places over the districts of south Odisha and Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur, Cuttack, Kendrapara, Dhenkanal, Angul, Deogarh and Sambalpur districts of north Odisha.

The Met office has warned of heavy to very heavy rainfall at a few places over the districts of interior Odisha and extremely heavy rainfall at one or two places over Sambalpur, Jharsuguda, Bargarh and Nuapada districts tomorrow.

Photo credit: ANI

For more Bhubaneswar news Click Here