Bhubaneswar: The water level of Baitarani river crossed the danger mark at Rajghat and is on continuous rise following heavy rain in the upper catchment area of the river. Against the danger level of 36.36 metres at Rajghat, the river is flowing at 39.14 metres, a source said.
All government and private schools in 13 districts in Odisha were closed by their respective Collectors in view of incessant rain triggered by a deep depression over the Bay of Bengal, the source added.
The state experienced heavy rainfall and received an average rainfall of 83.8 mm over the last 24 hours. The highest rainfall of 390.6 mm was recorded in Boudh block in Boudh district. Four blocks have recorded rainfall of more than 300 mm, 17 blocks more than 200 mm, and 68 blocks have received rainfall between 100 mm and 200 mm, a Met source said.
Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) S Sahu reviewed the rain situation with district Collectors Wednesday and directed them to take adequate precautionary measures to meet any eventuality.
He directed the Collectors to keep all field-level functionaries at strategic locations suspected of waterlogging or low-lying areas to remain alert and directed them to evacuate people out of waterlogging areas if required and shelter them in safe shelters and shall be provided with dry/cooked food and drinking water.
The SRC said the Collectors may decide on the closure of schools and Anganwadi Centres if required due to heavy rain.
“As the IMD forecast intense rainfall during the next two days, teams of Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force have been sent to Keonjhar and Sambalpur’s Rairakhol for rescue work,” he said, adding that the district collectors are told to take adequate precautionary measures and keep all field-level functionaries to deal with any adverse situation.
National Disaster Response Force teams are being deployed in Bhadrak and Jajpur districts, he said.
Meanwhile, a goods train derailed between Handapa and Bainda in Angul district during the day, after a boulder fell on the engine of the train due to a landslide triggered by heavy rainfall, an official said.
Fire brigade personnel rescued a woman trapped on an island in the Baitarani river in Keonjhar, a district official said.
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The Communication between Bhubaneswar, Phulbani, Sambalpur and Subarnapur has been disrupted after the national highway and state highways were submerged under a few feets of rainwater following heavy rain.
Meanwhile, the local Met office said the deep depression that formed over Coastal Bangladesh and the neighbourhood moved with a speed of 31kmph during the past six hours and lay centres at 05:30 hours of Wednesday over Gangetic West Bengal near Bankura, about 130km west-northwest of Kolkata.
It is likely to move west-northwestward across Jharkhand and weaken gradually into a depression over the next 12 hours and into a well-marked low-pressure area over the subsequent 24 hours.
The weather office predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall at a few places over several districts of Odisha till Thursday morning and sounded Red, Orange and Yellow warnings for the districts till Thursday morning.
The local cautionary signal No 3 has been hoisted at all ports in Odisha, and the fishermen were advised not to venture into the sea along and off the Odisha coast over the next 24 hours.
UNI