Fresh rains scare Phailin-hit Orissa

Heavy rain hits life in Orissa and Andhra, toll rises to 45

Bhubaneswar - Heavy rain occurred at several places in Orissa for the second consecutive day on Sunday making life miserable for citizens.

Meanwhile, the rain toll in the state has gone up to 36. The toll is expected to rise.
The situation is expected to worsen further under the impact of a fresh low pressure in the Bay of Bengal. 

The Orrisa government on Friday ordered closure of all educational institutions in seven districts and deployed the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).

The combined toll from the two waves of flood in Odisha stood at 33.

While the massive floods claimed 20 lives in Andhra Pradesh and forced the evacuation of over 68,000 people, the death toll in Odisha touched 10 and forced over 1.50 lakh people to evacuate their homes.

The met department has attributed the heavy rains to the creation of a low pressure zone over the Bay of Bengal, as an impact of Cyclone Phailin.

Due to the resultant vigorous northeast monsoon, the two states have been experiencing heavy rainfall, leading to the flood situation.

The Andhra Pradesh met office has warned of heavy rains in the state over the next two days. Further, district collectors all over the state have been asked to be on high alert and evacuate more people from low-lying areas.

This is the second wave of floods within 12 days to have hit the Odisha.

The two states are still realing from the devastation caused by Cyclone Phailin.

The local weather office has already predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall across the state during the next 48 hours.

During the last 24 hours, Krishnaprasad in coastal Khurda district had recorded the highest rainfall of 280 mm. The rainfall in Bhubaneswar, Orissa’s capital, was 84.5 mm.

Rivers in spate

Water levels in several major rivers like the Bamsadhara and Rusikulya in southern Orissa, Hati in western Orissa and Baitarani in coastal Orissa have already started to rise because of the heavy rain during the last 48 hours. 

Rain waters have already entered into towns in several districts.

Some of the heavily waterlogged towns are Bolangir in western Bolangir district, Berhampur in southern Ganjam district and Nayagarh in coastal Nayagarh district.
In Bhubaneswar, rain water has entered into different colonies, particularly on the city outskirts.

Traffic affected

Traffic has also been affected at different places in the state.

In northern India, showers drenched parts of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan, adds PTI. The monsoon showed signs of gaining momentum in these states while it was subdued in the national capital and some other places in the region.