Heavy rain lashes Odisha, over 7,000 affected in Malkangiri

Bhubaneswar: Several districts of Odisha have been affected by heavy rain over the past three days due to the impact of a depression over the Bay of Bengal, an official statement said on Sunday.

More than 7,300 people of Malkangiri district have been most affected by heavy rainfall during that period, it said.

Under the impact of the depression over the Bay of Bengal, the districts of Nabaranghpur, Koraput, Khurda, Nayagarh, and Malkangiri received heavy rainfall on July 19.

Similarly, on July 20, Malkangiri, Koraput, Rayagada, Gajapati, and Nabarangpur districts received heavy rain, while Nuapada, Sonepur, Boudh, Malkangiri, Bolangir and Angul received heavy rain on July 21.

Due to the heavy rain, several roads and bridges in Malkangiri district were submerged, the office of the Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) said in its statement.

The SRC office said 1,045 villages under 111 panchayats in the district were also affected, and the local administration has so far evacuated 121 people from the low-lying areas to safe shelter homes.

Three relief camps have been opened in the districts to provide food and shelter to affected persons. The water is receding, and normalcy is being restored, it said.

The SRC has asked the Malkangiri collector to prohibit the movement of vehicles on submerged roads and bridges till the water recedes.

The local police and local officials have been instructed to be at those sites to regulate traffic.

Damage to public and private properties shall be enumerated immediately after receding of the water, the statement said.

The emergency operation centres at the state and district level are functioning 24x7 in three shifts and monitoring the situation, it said.

Further, the SRC has instructed the health department to store anti-snake venoms at the public hospitals, while the energy department was asked to restore the power supply.

He also instructed the departments concerned to disinfect tubewells and restore affected roads and bridges in the rain-hit areas.

Since Saturday, Nuapada district has received an average rainfall of 96.1 mm, followed by Sonepur (73.6mm) and Boudh (66.5mm).

The highest rainfall of 154.4mm was recorded in the Athmallik block of Angul district.

Meanwhile, the depression weakened into a well-marked low-pressure area and lay over interior Odisha and adjoining Chhattisgarh at 8.30 am on Sunday.

It is likely to move towards Chhattisgarh and weaken gradually into a low-pressure area, the IMD said in a bulletin.

Under its impact, heavy rainfall (7 to 11cm) would occur at some places over the districts of Nuapada, Bolangir, Sonepur, Boudh, Bargarh, Sambalpur, Deogarh, Jharsuguda, Sundargarh, Nabarangpur, Kalahandi, Koraput, and Malkangiri on Sunday.