Bhubaneswar: The met office here has issued yellow warning of heavy rainfall in 20 districts of the state on Thursday and an orange alert of very heavy rains in 17 Odisha districts for Friday amidst warning of developing of a new low pressure area, the third in the past overnight.
The weather system is set to form over north Bay of Bengal around Friday under the influence of a cyclonic circulation, which lies over south Myanmar, the Bhubaneswar Meteorological Centre said in a bulletin on Wednesday.
The weatherman issued a yellow warning of heavy rain of 65-116 mm for 20 districts, including Cuttack, Puri and Khurda, on Thursday.
The meteorological center issued an orange alert of very heavy downpour of 116-204 mm in 17 districts, including Cuttack, Kendrapara and Sambalpur, on Friday. Heavy showers are expected for the rest of the 13 districts on the day.
It predicted very heavy precipitation in Kalahandi and seven districts of western Odisha on Saturday, besides heavy rain in nine adjoining districts.
The government has advised fishermen not to venture into the sea in north and west central Bay of Bengal on Friday and off the coast on Saturday as squally weather with wind speed of 45-55 km per hour is expected over the region, officials said.
The flood situation in the Mahanadi system in the state remained grim on Wednesday as the river water continued to swell due to heavy rainfall triggered by a depression over the past week, which has marooned 1.5 lakh people in 237 villages.
The first flood of the season has affected over two lakh people in 10 districts, while more than 27,000 people have been evacuated and moved to temporary shelters.
PTI