Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government Friday placed 14 districts on high alert following a warning from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) of heavy rainfall due to the formation of a low-pressure system in the Bay of Bengal.
The districts under alert are Angul, Bargarh, Balasore, Bhadrak, Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Deogarh, Jagatsinghpur, Jharsuguda, Kendrapara, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Sambalpur, and Sundargarh, Met officials said.
In a letter to the district collectors, Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) Satyabrata Sahu cautioned that intense and prolonged rainfall could lead to flash floods, flood-like situations, and waterlogging, particularly in urban areas.
The SRC also urged the field-level functionaries to stay prepared for any eventuality, including potential landslides in hilly regions.
“Instruct the field-level functionaries to remain prepared to meet any eventuality including possible landslide in hilly areas,” the SRC told the district collectors. He said engineers in-charge may keep close watch over embankments especially weak/vulnerable points in rivers/canal embankments.
Quoting the IMD bulletin, the SRC also said, “Under influence of the low pressure, widespread rainfall activity with isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall is very likely over the districts of Odisha during August 16 to 20.”
A red warning (take action) has been issued, forecasting isolated extremely heavy rainfall (above 20 cm) in Balasore and Bhadrak districts by Saturday morning.
In a separate advisory, the SRC urged the fisheries and animal resources development department to ensure that fishermen do not venture into the sea between August 16 and August 20 due to rough sea conditions.
Coastal districts have been instructed to ensure the safety of fishermen, and those already at sea have been advised to return to shore.
Meanwhile, heavy rainfall began affecting parts of Odisha on Friday as the low-pressure system formed over the Northwest Bay of Bengal, influenced by a cyclonic circulation over South Bangladesh and adjacent Gangetic West Bengal.
PTI